Open Your Heart
by homra-kid
Summary: The males of the Strife bloodline are gifted with the ability to have children. Take Prince Squall Leonhart from Balamb & Prince Cloud Strife from Nibelheim & you have the twins Sora & Roxas. Sixteen years later, Leon has just about had it with his boys mischief and as punishment they must entertain Prince Axel & his sister Kairi while they are staying in Nibelheim for the summer.
1. The Beginning of the Long Summer

**Open Your Heart**

**Chapter 1:** **The Beginning of the Long Summer**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters in this story they belong respectfully to Square Enix

**Warning:** Themes of shounen-ai/yaoi/homosexual relationships, impregnation, etc, you know all that good stuff. If it bothers you then you have the option of leaving.

**Summary: **The males of the Strife bloodline are gifted with the ability to reproduce and have children of their own like women. Take Prince Squall Leonhart from Balamb and Prince Cloud Strife from Nibelheim and you have the twins Sora and Roxas. Forward sixteen years and now the parents are trying to get the idea of marriage into their boys mind, but Nibelheim's rebellious prince, Roxas Strife Leonhart refuses tobe pushed into a marriage he doesn't want. In comes Prince Axel with his younger sister Princess Kairi from Radiant Garden and Roxas has just about had it for the summer.

**Pairings: **Axel x Roxas, Riku x Sora, Leon x Cloud

**Music:** "Light Up the Sky" by Yellow Card & "Haven't had enough" by Mariana Trench & "Learn Me Right" by Mumford and Sons with Birdy

**A/N: **This story is edited to the very best of my abilities, if you see any mistakes please don't hesitate to inform me and I will edit them as soon as I can x-x Even though this is a new story it will not be as long as Beneath the Surface, no way! This is supposed to be light and fun for Akuroku day (: Which is actually coming up very soon! Anyways, please enjoy this first chapter and don't forget to review please :3

-x-x-x-x-

The royal house of Strife possess a bloodline trait unlike any other among the people of their time. Pertaining only to the males of their family, they, like women were capable of bearing children. Though many people perceived it as a curse other's thought of it as a miracle, especially the Strife men themselves who chose to take up male lovers instead of the ever seductive ladies of the court. This, Prince Squall (Leon) Leonhart from Balamb took full advantage of with his childhood friend and lover, Cloud Strife.

At the height of his young teenage life, Leon had to choose a wife in order to ensure that there would be an heir to his throne. His parents, King Laguna and Queen Raine were adamant about him getting a marital life but Leon, still in his youth was as rebellious of a prince as they came and downright refused any offers the nobles of his father's court made to him about considering their daughters as potential wives. Not even the princesses of their allies could appease Leon's stubbornness against the idea of marriage. Back then, he didn't believe anyone was fit to earn his undying love and affection except for the young seventeen year old Prince Cloud Strife of Nibelheim.

It seemed almost impossible for Leon to escape from the parties, the women, and his parent's constant harassment and conversations about marriage, wives and grandchildren. What was probably the worst though, was that he had little time to spend traveling out to the country to see Cloud because of all the duties his father, the king pushed on him. Finally, all hope seemed lost when Lady Rinoa Heartilly became his fiancée at the request of the Queen herself. Plans were being made for their wedding behind his back and there was nothing he could do to protest against it unless he was to throw away his life and runaway.

For days, Leon was at a loss, but during the middle of his time drowning in despair, Cloud came to him and proposed a plan that would allow Leon an outlet from his nightmare of a wedding. Being a Strife and being in love with Leon no less, Cloud forced himself onto the prince of Balamb and they shared a night of passion unlike any other they had ever experienced before. The fruits of their love flourished a month later and only weeks before the scheduled wedding when Cloud at long last confirmed his pregnancy and announced it to both his court and Leon's.

Leon's mother, Raine was devastated by the turn of events but Laguna was optimistic and jokingly told his only son that he expected as many grandchildren as Leon could squeeze out of poor Cloud. And so, the engagement between Leon and Rinoa was revoked, their wedding annulled and both Nibelheim's and Balamb' court were in an uproar over the prince's scandalous deed—but did the boys care? No, not one bit since both men was now able to love freely with whom they adored and best of all there was a child on the way.

Throughout the time of Cloud's pregnancy, the couple experienced months and months of joy and happiness that they never thought they could have. When the blonde's stomach began to show, the two married at long last; Cloud only eighteen years old and Leon a proud and healthy twenty year old himself. With Cloud being an only child and his country without a king since his father's death years before, it was in Leon's best interest to move to Nibelheim and relieve some of the royal duties from the pregnant blond. Laguna still had many years left in him, but even so the relationship between Cloud and Leon allowed for both their countries to unite and become one—so that when Laguna stepped down in Balamb, Leon would take his place from the comfort of his new home in Nibelheim with Cloud.

At long last, Cloud's pregnancy came to an end during the beginning of July on the twelfth. Throughout the day, the sounds of the blond male's labor frightened Leon and shook him to the core. No amount of patience or kind words from both his parents and mother in-law could sooth his racing heart. Hours passed until finally a little after sunset, a pained shout, the loudest one of them all, echoed through the hall from inside the room.

Afterwards it was silence, until finally a shriek that could come only from a newborn was heard. That day, Leon had never been so scared in his life. By the time he managed to force himself into the room to see his beloved and their child, another cry filled the space and the brunet found himself collapsing to the ground from the absolute shock of seeing twin boys in the arms of his lover.

Their oldest was the little brunet who they named Sora, and the youngest one—with a shade of blonde several times darker than Cloud's and was the only one screaming constantly, they named him Roxas.

The grandparents were tremendously happy after the birth of the twins. Laguna especially, could not stop congratulating his son for being able to give him two grandchildren in one go. The grandmothers too, quickly settled themselves in and babied their grandsons from dawn to dusk and from head to toe. As the twins began to grow, everyone could see how they reflected their fathers in not only appearance but in their personality too.

-x-x-x-x-

**Sixteen Years later…**

"Where's that letter from?" Leon stood over his blond husband, eying the piece of parchment held loosely in his hand, "It isn't a secret admirer, is it?"

"It's from Radiant Garden, our dear friend King Ansem the Wise has been ill and so I've invited him here to Nibelheim for some fresh air," Cloud replied, his eyes skimming one last time over the words before he finally placed the letter down on the table in front of him, "He should be arriving soon, I'd say maybe tomorrow or even today."

"Well, you're being awfully generous Cloud," the brunet chuckled as he placed his hand on the other's cheek so that he could turn the blonde's gaze towards him and press his lips against the his forehead.

"I guess, but only when I want to be." He mused.

Unfortunately for the couple, their tranquil moment was shattered by the sound of a frightened shout coming from outside in the gardens. Growling, Leon went to the nearest window and threw it open before sticking his head out in search of the culprits. There, riding on horseback shooting arrows at a row of ridiculous looking stuffed targets was his youngest son, Roxas and his friends from town—Hayner, Pence and Olette. And it didn't stop there either, because his other son, the older twin, Sora came riding on his own horse with a bow and arrow in hand as well.

"Okay! I'm here now and ready for some target practice!" the bubbly prince laughed as he pulled the string back on his bow and aimed it at Hayner.

"Whoa! Wait right there! I don't even have an apple on my head genius! And you're scaring me with that excited look on your face!" Hayner cried, quickly making a run for his life, he hid behind the rose bushes and out of sight.

"Hay! Come on I didn't even release an arrow! I was only joking!" the young prince whined.

"It doesn't matter! It's still my life on the line here!" the unruly blond replied, his head peeking out just enough so that he could glare up at the pouting brunet.

"I don't think this is such a good idea anymore you guys." Pence sighed, his face hidden behind Olette's back.

"You kids are damn right about what you're doing isn't a good idea!" Leon finally roared after having listened in on their conversation from the castle tower's window.

The children all screamed from the sudden appearance of the king. In his fright, Sora lost his grip and clumsily dropped his bow to the ground while his twin gasped and fell off his own horse. Scrambling, the teens rushed to gather the dummies and reassemble themselves. Their misery delighted Leon and he couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

"That's right, you all better clean your mess up and don't I ever catch you doing dangerous stunts like that ever again!"

"Y-yes your majesty!" they all squeaked in their desperation.

Giving them a stern nod, Leon closed the window and returned to his beloved who merely shook his head but still smiled knowingly.

"What? I wasn't harsh on them _this time_."

"I know, but it still amuses me how often you scold them," Cloud reached out to rest his hand against the smooth skin of Leon's cheek, "They're just trying to have a bit of fun," Stroking his lover's face, he lifted himself up from his chair and kissed the other's waiting lips.

Kissing him back briefly, Leon pulled away with the softest of pouts adorned on his face that only Cloud ever had the privilege of seeing, "Fun? They could have been hurt you know…"

"Yeah, but they're still kids. Remember, we were just as mischievous as they are when we were young."

"I guess, but I—"

"No," Cloud pressed a finger to the brunet's lips, silencing him from finishing his sentence. "We were just as bad Leon. Come on, how could you forget when we terrorized your nanny that summer, Mary was it? Yeah, all those strawberry short cakes and the traps we set… we nearly killed her with that suit of armor and axe you know?"

Closing his eyes, Leon began to shake as he held back his laughter. "Yes, yes we did in deed terrorize that woman to the core. I bet she still has nightmares of us…"

"Yeah, you think?"

-x-x-x-x-

"Dude! Your dad is scary!" Hayner exclaimed. Finally getting the last dummy back into the storage the pair shut the door with a kick.

"I guess, but at least you don't have to live with him!" Roxas sighed.

Marching back outside into the gardens, the pair found Sora, Pence and Olette already grouped together, lounging under the shade of a tree. Settling down once more, Roxas laid down into the grass beside his twin, laying his head against the other's thigh as he tried to find some comfort from having had their fun scared away by their dear old dad.

"By the end of the day, I'm sure dad is going to have a field day with us Sor."

"I know, I can imagine it right now…" the brunet groaned loudly.

"Like I said before, King Leon is scary."

"You always say that though Hayner," Olette said as she ran her fingers through her loose brown curls.

"Even if he's scary, he's still a great king you've got to admit." Pence pointed out with a yawn and rolled onto his stomach.

"Yeah, he is a pretty great king. I mean, dad is ruling Nibelheim all the way to Balamb, his homeland. The reason he's actually living here is because of our father, Cloud," Roxas added, chewing on the walls his mouth.

"So, King Cloud is technically like your mother right? I mean he is the one that gave birth to you guys." Hayner asked curiously.

"Yeah," the twins both replied in unison.

"Your bloodline trait, it must be hard to deal with." Pence said, his attention now focused on pulling at the blades of grass laid out in front of him.

"Not really, I mean as long as we fall in love with women it isn't something to really worry about. Right Sora?" Roxas asked.

"Y-yeah! Right!" Sora chirped, his voice a little unsteady but he tried to mask out his hesitation nonetheless—if only a little so that his friends didn't question him.

Roxas on the other hand picked up on his twin's suddenly odd behavior. Raising a brow, he made a mental note to question his brunet counterpart at a later time.

"Speaking of women, our fathers have been giving us 'the talk' recently," Roxas quoted with his fingers.

"The talk?"

"Yup! That's right Hayner!"

"You mean the birds and bees right?" Olette began to laugh.

"Olette it isn't funny!" Hayner hissed.

"I'm sorry! It's just, I've already been given the female version of 'the talk'." she said, her fingers mimicking Roxas' actions.

"Come on, the guy's version is a lot more complex than the girl's." Hayner glared.

"Sure it is… But I've already heard your guy's version too just so you know." Olette replied as she sat up with her arms crossed against her chest.

"Oh… Well then…"

"That's right, I know both sides of 'the talk.'"

"Ungrateful know it all…" the unruly blond muttered and was given a nice thump to the head by the brunet girl for his behavior.

"Ehh, well anyways because of it, we're getting into all this stuff about marriage and I swear it pisses me off!" Roxas began to exclaim.

"Well, we are at that age where we are allowed to marry now Roxas."

"So? I think we're too young! Come on, we're still sixteen years old! Why do we need to get hitched now of all times anyways? I mean why the rush? Can't we live a little?"

"Uhh…" No one had an answer and that just made Roxas' point seem even more valid than before. With no one to really speak up or give a comprehendible reply, they all shrugged their shoulders and sighed.

"Two more years and we'll be young adults…" Hayner grumbled.

"And two years can go by in the blink of an eye without us even realizing it," Olette said, her voice going soft now as her eyes fell to her lap.

"We better make the most of this summer you guys!" Sora cried, his fist pumping into the air.

"Yeah!"

"Well… " Sitting up now, Roxas quickly got up onto his feet and began dusting his pants a little before suddenly smiling brightly at everyone, "Why don't we start by going inside and making ourselves something sweet in the kitchen?"

"Kitchen? Roxas, you know we're not allowed in there right?" Sora said, his head tilting to the side in wonder at what his twin could possibly be thinking of.

"I know which is why it's a good idea since everyone is here." Roxas replied as he quickly yanked his friend up, "It makes going to the kitchen a lot more memorable when we have friends to join us."

"B-but the—the cooks! And the staff! They'll be in there and they'll tell us to leave for sure, did you even think about that Roxas?" his twin quickly asked, he too now up on his feet with his hands resting at his hips in a scolding manner.

"Of course! What kind of a mischief maker would I be if I just waltzed right into the kitchen when I know I'll get caught being seen on sight?" Roxas grinned.

"No way, you're not thinking of what I think you're thinking, right buddy?" Hayner asked.

"Maybe?"

"Roxas…" Sora warned.

"But Sor-Sor…" the blond began to pout, his lips trembling in an effort to guilt trip his twin.

"Yeah! Sor-Sor…" Hayner mimicked Roxas' actions, but his pout wasn't nearly as convincing as his spikey haired friend.

"Arghh… You guys!" Sora whined but he couldn't find it in his heart to refuse such a face like that. Sighing heavily, the brunet hung his head in defeat and with a wave of his hand, dismissed all of his objections into the wind, "Fine… we're already in trouble anyways so what's the point in trying to stop you…"

"Yes! It always works!" Roxas cried out victoriously as he high fived Hayner.

"So, what's the plan? How are we going to get into the kitchen?"

"Hmm… Sora!"

"Yeah?"

"You still remember all those passages zig zagging throughout the castle right?"

"Of course, how could I forget those? We use to play in them all the time and hide from father and dad."

Seeing the glint in his twin's oceanic blue eyes, Sora began to understand just what his twin wanted them to do. Nodding his head in reply, the two exchanged identical smirks.

"Okay, I know you guys are twins but do you really have to do that? I mean, come on you seriously have to look at yourselves from a third point of view because this here, this is scary!" Hayner yelled.

"Sorry Hay." They both said, causing the unruly blond to groan in reply.

-x-x-x-x-

The plan was settled, and the five teenagers made their way into the castle with the perfect agenda on their minds. Just as they entered the estate, the front gates of the castle opened for several guards and carriages belonging to the house of Wise from Radiant Garden. Among the escort, riding on an ash colored stallion was the prince of Radiant Garden, the charismatic flame Axel.

The young man was truly a sight to behold, his shockingly bright red hair untamed, and springing high into the air with each trot his horse made. Very few men possessed such a unique style of hair, and Axel took pride in showing this off about himself. Another feature of his that made him so different were the upside down triangular marks which resembled teardrops beneath his acidic green eyes.

"Axel!" the princess, his younger sister Kairi stuck her head out from the small carriage window.

Seeing the girl's smiling face, Axel swayed his horse, Ember towards her direction and rode right beside her, "Yes my dear little sister?" the redhead teased.

"Nibelheim is quite beautiful don't you think? It isn't at all like Radiant Garden!"

"Yeah, it's pretty nice to look at if I do say so myself," He replied with a chuckle.

"Kairi, please settle down," Ansem sighed in his seat beside his young daughter.

"Yes father…" she murmured quietly.

The front gates closed again, the royals from Radiant Garden and their escort slowly coming to a halt in front of the doors to the large estate. Just as Axel got off his horse the thick wooden doors swung open to reveal the rulers of Nibelheim themselves—Kings Leon and Cloud.

The pair looked a tad bit disheveled one way or another, and Axel couldn't help but smirk knowingly at the activities they may have been doing before their arrival.

"Ansem! You're here! Early I see!" Leon exclaimed with a forced laugh.

"Yes, I just had to get myself out of Radiant Garden before the royal court became the death of me." He aspirated.

"Indeed, they just couldn't stop breathing down father's neck about Axel's engagement to Lady Larxene Morgan," Kairi said as she made a graceful exist out of the carriage. Smiling at the kings she bowed respectfully for them.

"Ah, this is my daughter, Kairi and this tall lad here is my son Axel," The old man motioned between his children.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both," Cloud said, "I'm sure you two will get along with our two boys just fine," Realizing what he just said, the blond turned to his husband in question, "Speaking of our boys… Leon? Where are they?"

"Uh… last time I saw them they were in the gardens with their friends."

Both men looked around the corner at the path that led towards the said gardens, but not one single voice could be heard and it began to worry them. There was absolutely nothing, and Leon feared for the worst—especially since their boys were known to cause mischief at least more than twice a day at the very most.

"Oh great shiva please no…" the brunet began to mutter under his breath as he slapped a hand over his forehead and groaned.

"Well! Anyways, you'll meet Sora and Roxas a little later, I assure you! Now how about we get you all settled in and maybe take a tour around the grounds?" Cloud asked quickly and hastily ushered the older man and his children inside.

Looking at the escort still standing around, Leon motioned for a couple of servants to attend to them and he too left after his lover and their guests—though his mood was now sour just thinking about where in the world his boys and their friends ran off to.

-x-x-x-x-

A couple of servants trudged behind their masters and Radiant Garden's royal family, carrying their belongings to their rooms. As the group reached the upstairs where the bedrooms were plentiful in the east wing, the sounds of yells and pounding doors unnerved everyone. Leon was quick to unsheathe the sword at his side, as was the prince, Axel. Cautiously, the two of them approached the closest door and tried getting at the knob but they found that it was locked.

Grumbling, Leon instantly knew that this was work of his beloved sons. Sliding his weapon back into his scabbard, he turned towards the group with a glare and Cloud immediately understood the situation.

"Sora and Roxas…" the names rolled off the brunet's tongue with a hiss, "Cloud, please tell me you have the key to these rooms…"

Gulping down his nervousness, the blond checked his pockets and collected the chain that held various keys only to find that low and behold—the key they needed was gone.

"Roxas… that little pick pocket…" Cloud sighed heavily and shook his head.

"They've gone too far this time…" Leon finally lost it and began his tyranny in search of Nibelheim's mischievous twin princes.

The Wise family could only blink in question as the brunet haired king barked out orders and stomped around the castle—his voice a frightening roar that could very well be compared to a real lion. Turning their heads towards their silent blond haired host, Ansem arched a thin brow at him which only caused Cloud to laugh nervously as he stood there frozen in place.

"Cloud? Is there something we should be aware of?" the older man asked.

"I'll um, inform you all of what has progressed, I promise. As soon as Leon gets that key we'll explain—or at least we'll have Sora and Roxas explain what has conspired here."

"Very well then," Ansem nodded.

"So, since these rooms here are now occupied, where will we be staying now?" Axel finally spoke up.

"Let us head over to the west wing, I'm quite sure Sora and Roxas will be thrilled to have some new faces in their hallway," Cloud said.

Leading them out of the east wing, the blonde's mind was filling up with ways to punish his two sons. He didn't know what exactly he was going to do to them, but once they figure out what in the hell's name they did, he was sure to make them regret their actions.

-x-x-x-x-

"I can't believe it actually worked!" Hayner's laugh filled the kitchen. Popping a cherry into his mouth, he rubbed his nose only to coat his skin with a thin layer of flour dust.

"I seriously thought you all would have been caught. Do you know how much trouble we'll be in when your dads find out what you guys did?" Olette whimpered at the very thought of being punished. Shakily slipping a kitchen mit on her right hand, she opened the oven and pulled out a tray of fresh steaming hot apple turnovers.

"Olette, I can only imagine." Sora replied as he grabbed a napkin and quickly helped himself to the hot treat.

The five teens helped themselves to the apple turnovers, releasing a few heated grunts from how hot the contents of the pastry were as the delectable morsels melted and burned the insides of their mouths.

"King Leon isn't going to like whip us or anything, right?" Pence asked, slowly taking a bite out of his second turnover.

"Pence you're such a worry wart!" Hayner punched the chubby boy's shoulder.

"Hayner, he has a right to be worried! I know I am." Olette pouted at the unruly blond before reaching over the table and pinching his cheek.

"Nyahh! Oletteee!" he began to whine.

Roxas scoffed, twirling the stolen key with his fingers as he swallowed the rest of his treat down, "Its summer and I think having a bit of fun like this while we're still young is worth the trouble."

"Oh really son?"

"Yes really! Wait a minute…" Glancing over his shoulder towards the door that led out to the main portion of the castle stood the king himself and sporting one of the sourest expressions the young blond had ever seen on his father's face in his life, "Um… Hi daddy?..."

Everyone in the room waved nervously now, their eyes all glued to the older man.

"Now, would you mind explaining to me just what the hell you guys were thinking when you locked the kitchen staff in the east wing!"

The teens winced, Pence and Olette already shaking in fear at the burning glare Leon was giving them.

"Well I'll be damned, I didn't think it'd take this short amount of time for everyone to catch on to what we did. Am I losing my touch here?" Roxas thought a loud.

"This isn't a joke Roxas! You are in a lot of trouble! All of you!" Leon yelled.

Turning to his twin, Roxas gave Sora a firm nod before directing his hard gaze towards the storeroom. Understanding the blonde's actions, Sora nodded back in response and Roxas turned away to bravely face their furious father.

"I get it okay? We're in trouble, or at least we're in even more trouble than before but still—"

"No buts!" Leon retorted.

Still staring at his father, Sora tugged on Pence's sleeve and began inching his way to the other side of the room towards the back door that led into the storeroom. He was extremely grateful that his father's eyes and attention were only on Roxas but on another note he felt pretty sorry for his younger twin too. But then again, Roxas was the one putting himself at risk, he could only hope that his twin's plan would work so long as he kept talking and distracting the king.

"Whoa! Now what happened in here?" Prince Axel made his appearance right behind the brunet haired king. Giving a low whistle, he smirked, "Looks like you kids are in trouble."

Roxas eyed the redhead up and down, his brow arched in wonder. Who was this person he thought to himself. From the clothes he was wearing, the guy was in no way a resident of Nibelheim from what he could tell.

"Prince Axel, would you please leave? I am trying to teach my sons and their friends a lesson here," Leon groaned with a heavy sigh.

"A lesson huh? Does it really have to involve yelling though your majesty?" the redhead shook his head.

Roxas watched as his father's eyes narrowed at the tall prince, _'Is he seriously looking for a death wish?'_ he wondered. Already he could tell that Leon's temper was waning now that this Axel person was dancing on his last nerves and it seemed like the perfect time to make his move. Sora had already vanished along with Pence and Olette, Hayner just now inching his way towards the pantry as well.

The blond royal couldn't help but smile and quickly made a mental note to thank this Prince Axel later. Quietly getting up off his stool, he glanced once over at his father and the redhead who now had Leon's full attention. Tip toeing his way towards the storeroom door, he nearly choked at the sight of Axel's intense green eyes looking down at him. Just as he was about to disappear into the room, Leon's sudden shout caught him off guard and Roxas quickly bolted in and slammed the door closed.

"Roxas—You! Prince Axel!" Leon exclaimed before literally sprinting towards the door the teens had fled into.

Just as he yanked the storeroom door open, there was not a person in sight and instantly Leon knew that the teens used one of the castles escape routes. Growling in his frustration, the king marched out of the kitchen passed Axel who couldn't help but release a soft chuckle.

Sparing the redhead a glare over his shoulder, Leon stopped for but a second and stomped back towards Axel until he was face to face with the young prince. The redhead was pretty tall for his age, he had to admit but Leon was still taller by several inches.

Jabbing his fingers into the boy's chest, Leon growled at him, "You, my dear boy are going to regret distracting me and letting my prey escape." The king hissed before turning heel and sprinting towards the front doors of his estate.

With Leon nowhere near the proximity now, Axel finally released a heavy sigh he didn't know he held in. Fanning his face a little, he felt his body shiver and he was relieved that he wasn't in the shoes of the young twins.

"Damn he's scary! I'm so glad he's not my dad!"

Running outside into the castle courtyard, Leon was too late to stop the group from fleeing as they all piled on their horses and ran for their lives. To his even greater shock, the guards opened the front gates for the smiling teens and they all but booked it out for freedom the very chance they got.

With his jaw hanging open, Leon stared after his sons now laughing wildly as they rode on towards the town. Speechless, he slowly turned his gaze over to the guards who stood off to the side—most of them smiling and bathing in the king's humiliation.

"Children will be children your majesty!" the captain of his royal guards, Zack Fair remarked enthusiastically from his place around a small bonfire they were building, "I'd have thought that at this point you would accept them for their mischief and all—especially Sora and Roxas."

"Ch-children? Zack, their seventeenth birthday is next month! They can't act this way for much longer!"

"Leon!" Cloud yelled from the top steps of their castle, his oceanic blue eyes narrowed down at his lover.

"Yes Cloud, what is it?"

"Leave them be, they're still kids you know." The blond said before turning his attention to the wolf-like beast beside him, Nanaki, "Please follow them, I don't want them running into any more trouble." Cloud requested as he gave his friend a scratch behind the ear.

Giving the blond king a nod, Nanaki padded down the steps and began a light jog across the courtyard before sprinting through the open gates and beginning his task of tracking down the groups scent.

Feeling quite pleased, Cloud continued to hold a frown on his face when his attention settled back on his husband.

"What? Why are you mad at me? I'm not the one running around wreaking havoc on the sanity of my castle's kitchen staff." Leon exclaimed.

"I know, but Zack's right—they're still kids and they're just trying to have some fun before we have to push them out into the real world."

"Cloud! Argh, they're almost seventeen!"

Marching down towards his lover, Cloud stood nose to nose with his brunet haired king and yanked him even closer to him as he glared harder, "We'll discuss this matter later." He said before releasing his lover and leaving him angrily in the dust.

"Damn Leon! He's got you whipped!" Zack hollered, his attempts at holding back his laughter failing him with each second his grin widened.

"Shut up Zack!"

-x-x-x-x-

The group of five was laughing blissfully as they rode on pass the town and through the woods, their joy radiating and apparent to all who looked on at them. It wasn't every day that their childish schemes worked out as well as they did like today and they couldn't help but feel so celebratory about escaping the clutches of King Leon's wrath.

As they approached their destination, they slowed their horses to a steady trot, a calming sensation taking over them as they rested their eyes on the beauty of the running river that was laid out in front of them.

Taking his bow out from the leather scabbard on his back, Roxas urged his black and white painted mare, Destiny faster towards the water's edge. Sora too did the same and with his own gray colored horse, Isle and they trotted right behind his twin.

"You guys get some firewood, we'll go fishing!" Roxas shouted as he jumped off his horse onto the river's shore.

Knowing their duties, Hayner, Pence and Olette began the trudge back to the forest edge while the twins went into the river knee deep and started shooting arrow after arrow into the water.

Nanaki arrived not too long after and made his presence known by settling himself down next to the princes' horses. The red beast took his job as the twin's caretaker quite seriously, having known the two of them since they were only six years old. Now the two were growing up and were twiddling on the edge of their adolescent lives and on the journey to adulthood. Still, he couldn't help but see them as the children he always knew them to be.

Getting the fire started and successfully catching at least two baskets full of fish, everyone began to circle around and cook their evening meal. Nanaki as well, joined in on their festivities, snuggling especially close to Roxas as he nuzzled his head into the blonde's side.

One fish after another, they ate and ate—all laughing and smiling even as the sun began to set. With stomachs full and satisfied, the moon rising high into the sky, the teens knew that their day had finally come to an end and that they all had homes to go to and beds waiting to sleep in.

Kicking the surrounding dirt over their fire, and cleaning up what they could, the five reluctantly got on their horses and started the short trip leading back to town.

"How much trouble do you think you guys will be in?" Hayner asked solemnly.

Recognizing the seriousness in their friend's voice, the twins looked at each other and frowned, "We don't know," Sora finally said.

"I hope it isn't too much, I mean its summer—we have to spend time with each other as much as possible before it's over." Olette commented.

"Yeah, but dad can be quite cruel sometimes. If anything, he'll probably forbid Sora and I from seeing you guy's for a while after all the trouble we caused today."

"No way! That's just—"

"I believe that if you two behave yourselves for a while, his majesty will be lenient with your punishment." Nanaki finally spoke up as he padded closely beside Roxas and Destiny.

"Thanks for the optimism Na."

"My pleasure."

-x-x-x-x-

Hayner, Pence and Olette all arrived home safe and sound, this the twins and Nanaki made sure of as they too headed home towards the castle. Along the way, the few townspeople still out and about greeted them warmly, which the princes returned with a great amount of gratitude.

Though they were quite rebellious one way or another, Nibelheim adored their highnesses whole heartedly. There weren't many princes and princesses out there that ventured so freely and made friends with everyone they met like Sora and Roxas. This the town loved about them—and each and every time the twins somehow manage to surprise everyone with their childishness and generosity. Really, what kind of princes would willingly run about town picking up the manual labor going on or help out at the local baker's and blacksmith?

Much too soon, Sora and Roxas found themselves on the castle grounds, the night guards already helping them put away their horses in the stables. Zack was the first to approach them, his face turned into a frown as he stood there with his arms crossed.

"I hope you know how very worried your fathers and all of us were about you two."

"Sorry Zack." They both said; their heads hung low to hide some of the shame on their faces.

"What's done is done boys, at least Nanaki here was with you so I wasn't too concerned. Now, chins up and head on inside, your fathers and their guests are most likely waiting in the library for you since it is past supper."

"Right…" Roxas said as he swallowed nervously.

"I'm too young to die…" Sora whimpered.

"You're not gonna die, Leon's just gonna chew you guys up and spit ya right back out." The dark haired male ruffled both of the princes' spikey hair. Pushing them on through the front doors, he escorted them up the main stairs to the east wing.

"Zack, that does not make us feel any better!"

"Hey, I said he's going to chew you up not kill you," Opening the doors to the library, Zack quickly shoved the boys in, "They're home!"

The sound of a book being slammed shut caused the twins to jump in place. Gulping, they looked to Zack for some amount of pity, but the captain of the guards merely saluted and wished them luck before leaving them to their doom.

Sitting at the oak wooden desk at the far right of the room was their father, Leon and next to him was an expressionless looking Cloud, "I'm glad to see you're both safe and sound." Leon said, his voice only slightly controlled.

"Y-yeah…"

There on the other side of the room by the fireplace was King Ansem sitting comfortably in the leather chair in front of the blazing fire, his daughter Kairi taking a seat right up on the love couch and Axel lying on his stomach at their feet with a book in front of him. Seeing that the twins were back though, the three looked up at the boys silently.

Axel especially, stared intently at the blond prince, taking in the young boy's nervous form. He could see that they were both dirty, their pants covered in a thin layer of mud. Their boots were in no better condition either, so he had to wonder, just where in the world they had disappeared to earlier.

"Now, about what happened earlier today… Start explaining." Leon made no requests and the twins knew instantly that it was an order and what Leon said always goes.

"We were all talking about it being summer and having only two more years left until society sees us as a couple of young adults." Roxas was the first to say, his arms crossing tightly against his chest.

"We just wanted to have a bit of fun together and we were craving sweets so…"

"We stole the key, tricked the kitchen staff upstairs to the east wing where we locked them up from the outside then did as we pleased in the kitchen. There! Happy?" Roxas said with abrupt stomp and glared.

"Damn…" Axel murmured under his breath from his side of the room.

"What you two—no what you five, both of you and your three friends did was wrong! You should known better than to have done that!"

"Leon…" Cloud glared daggers at his lover, thus silencing the brunet from shouting any further and making even more of a fool of himself than he already had in front of their guests, "Now, I'm not very happy with what the two of you did either. If anything, I'm disappointed."

That last word made the twins wince terribly. Roxas had to bite his tongue from feeling a sudden rush of guilt fill his chest and it made him upset to know how their dad felt about their actions. Sora felt no better but stuck to keeping his head bowed low.

"Despite my disappointment in you two, I must say how very crafty you were to have pulled off such a plan."

"What?" Sora and Roxas quickly looked up, their faces painted with surprise. Even Leon was at a loss and stared at his blond haired lover with a set of wide dark blue eyes.

"C-Cloud! Don't encourage them!"

"Shut it Leon."

This, Axel couldn't contain himself and he bellowed in his laughter a little too hysterically until Ansem gave his son a rough kick to his leg to silence him.

Ignoring the strange redhead, Roxas walked the short distance over to the desk and stood directly in front of his two fathers, "Dad…"

Seeing the seriousness in his son's eyes, Cloud returned the stare, "I understand that you two are still young but as your father, I'm not letting you guys off the hook."

Joining his twin, Sora came over to stand next to the blond, his face just as blank but his eyes determined enough to contrast against his expression, "We know, it's not like we came back knowing that we'd get away with what we did scoot free."

"Right, your father and I have discussed this and we both agreed that your punishment will be to entertain Prince Axel and his sister Princess Kairi during their entire stay here with their father, his majesty King Ansem the Wise," Cloud stated. "Furthermore, you are not allowed to see your friends until your seventeenth birthdays. Till then, I suggest getting used to being good hosts. Also, we allowed some of the kitchen staff a little vacation for the trouble you both put them through, so be prepared to get up bright and early because you're working tomorrow."

"Wha—What!"

"Don't even think about trying to get out of this one, boys'." Leon warned.

Looking at each other, the twins knew that no amount of begging or good deeds could get them out of this mess. Knowing their dad Cloud, he was just as frightening as their father Leon could ever be. Sucking up their pride and sticking it out, the two nodded in silence.

"Now that we've come to an understanding, go greet our guests." Leon barked, his hand reaching up to massage his temple.

As the twins turned heel and walked over to the old king and his children, Cloud leaned in close to Leon's face before giving him a peck on the cheek, "That went much better than I thought it would."

"Whatever…" he groaned in reply, only to receive another peck to his cheek from the blond male beside him.

Standing before Radiant Garden's royal family, the twins gave the three a bow. Axel smirked, while his sister giggled from her seat and Ansem chuckled softly at their gesture.

"Welcome to Nibelheim your majesties." Sora almost twittered, a smile now replacing the frown he wore but seconds ago.

"We apologize for our rude behavior and not meeting you sooner. We were occupied with other _duties_ that were in need of our attention." Roxas added. Trying to sugar coat his words, Axel snorted and pressed his nose deep into the book in front of him.

Roxas caught the redhead's actions and his face fell into a pout.

"Please, don't worry. You're both still young; enjoy your youth while you still can." Ansem said.

"We try all the time." Sora replied with a short laugh at the end.

"Now, this lovely girl right here is my daughter, Kairi and the buffoon lying on the ground at my feet is my son, Axel."

Roxas' body shook suddenly in his attempts to combat the giggles invading him. Leaning on Sora for support, he held his stomach and bit his lip. The older twin, unlike his brother had no real control at holding back his laughter. So when the first bits of his amusement were heard, they both came crashing down in a fit of merriment as they pointed down at the redhead.

"Ha, ha that's very funny _father_, now look what you've gone and done to them." Axel said as he rolled his green eyes.

Kairi giggled, she too feeling just as amused, "Oh please, father has every right to call you a buffoon, I mean the insult just suits you in every way, shape and form."

"Kairi, not another word."

"Yes, oh dear older brother of mine." She said, batting her dark eyelashes at him.

-x-x-x-x-

The clock on the wall chimed, informing the people occupying the room that it was well past nine now. Seeing that it was getting quite late, Leon and Cloud began to usher everyone to their rooms. After taking a moment to breathe, Sora and Roxas still needed to take their bathes before bed so did just that.

Parting ways with his twin and entering his own respective bedroom, Roxas buffed his damp blond tresses with the pristine white towel on his head. Giving his bedroom door a kick close for good measure, he made his way over to the bed and dropped himself down onto the comforter. Breathing a relaxing sigh, the sound of coughing in the room startled the blond back up and he threw the towel off of his head.

"Sorry if I surprised you blondie, I just wanted to make sure you were okay." Leaning against the wall next to the window was none other than Radiant Garden's heir, Prince Axel standing there with his arms crossed, wearing a pair of brown form fitting slacks and a white button down shirt.

What was even more surprising to Roxas was that he could see the redhead's bare chest. It wasn't his fault though because Axel already had his shirt unbutton far enough for the blond to gaze upon the faint trail of red hair leading down to god knows where. Just, it was all as plain as day and in those few seconds of staring at the godly form that was Axel, did Roxas begin to feel his face taking up the darkest blush he had ever had in his life.

Noticing the younger boy's unusual silence, the older prince raised a brow at first but quickly realized why the blond seemed so stunned, "My, my, I didn't know I had admirers reaching so far as Nibelheim of all places." He began to muse.

Gasping, Roxas quickly shook his head. Though he knew he was still blushing, it didn't stop him from giving the redhead the good old stink eye, "Just what are you doing in here? This is my room."

He laughed, "I told you before, I just wanted to check up on you that's all."

"Why?"

"Why you ask?

"Yes, why."

"Well because, you did get your little ass handed to you pretty good by your old man and now you and your brother have to play host for my sister and I as punishment. Not to mention the chores you've got to do in the kitchen tomorrow, oh! And not being able to see your friends I forgot to add."

"Are you trying to make me angry here?" Roxas swung his feet over the bed until he touched the cold stone floor again.

"Maybe? I apologize if it seems that way."

"Yeah, sure you are…"

"Oh, I am sorry, really I am." Axel said, this time with a smirk.

"Liar." Roxas then padded around the bed and over to the redhead, his glare even more intense than before.

"You're so full of life, I admire it." The redhead's voice strangely became soft as he said that. Roxas didn't understand why and he didn't get a chance to ask as Axel somehow maneuvered around him and walked on towards his bedroom door.

"Hey Roxy, I look forward to spending the rest of the summer with you." Axel said, his green eyes peering over his shoulder at the blond haired prince before he made his exit silently out of the room.

Now left alone, Roxas felt his legs turn to jelly and he found himself struggling back to the sanctuary of his bed. He didn't know why his heart was pounding all of a sudden and it didn't help how dizzy his head was feeling either. This wasn't good. And now, having seen a glimpse of Axel's character, the blond was pretty sure he wasn't going to like playing nice for a guest like him. Another thing was that it was still just the second week of June and an entire summer stuck with a guy like that redhead, Roxas really, really wasn't sure how well he'd be able to handle living with him for next two and half months.

* * *

**A/N: **That's about 19 pages right there, 19 pages you guys! One of the longest chapters I have ever written! And why did I write so much? Because this story is only going to be like three chapters (maybe even four if I don't squeeze in as much story as I want) but I'll be damned if I go any more than that because I still have **Beneath the Surface** to work on and that requires a lot of character and relationship development.

I already have this entire story laid out so hopefully I can get in the next chapter by tomorrow. I'm like desperate to finish this all in time for Akuroku day T-T Any who, I really do hope that you guys have enjoyed this tid bit and feedback would be really great from all of you :'3 Until tomorrow? Next time? Yeah!


	2. You'll be Amazed by What You Find

**Open Your Heart**

**Chapter 2: You'll be Amazed by What You Find**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters in this story they belong respectfully to Square Enix

**Warning:** Themes of shounen-ai/yaoi/homosexual relationships, impregnation, etc, you know all that good stuff. If it bothers you then you have the option of leaving.

**Summary:** The males of the Strife bloodline are gifted with the ability to reproduce and have children of their own like women. Take Prince Squall Leonhart from Balamb and Prince Cloud Strife from Nibelheim and you have the twins Sora and Roxas. Forward sixteen years and now the parents are trying to get the idea of marriage into their boys mind, but Nibelheim's rebellious prince, Roxas Strife Leonhart refuses to be pushed into a marriage he doesn't want. In comes Prince Axel with his younger sister Princess Kairi from Radiant Garden and Roxas has just about had it for the summer.

**Pairings:** Axel x Roxas, Riku x Sora, Leon x Cloud

**Music: **"To the Sky" by Owl City & "Look Through My Eyes" by Phil Collins

**A/N:** Here's the second chapter I was able to crank out. Whoa, talk about update huh? And I'm never this fast either but considering Akuroku day is coming up, I have no choice in the matter ^^; Well, enjoy this bit and don't forget to review if you can? :3

-x-x-x-x-

Roxas' knees buckled under the weight of his twin brother's body. Why in the world he was giving the brunet a piggy back ride, he had absolutely no idea but after spending the last five or so hours helping out the head cook in the kitchen with the morning chores and breakfast, he really didn't care. One thing was certain though, he never, ever wanted to watch another pig be slaughtered, ever again in his young life—even if it was the time of the month where they had to procure the pork meat that would last them for the next several weeks.

"Never, again!" the blond exclaimed, his voice hoarse now as the weight on his back finally pushed him to the limits and he found himself falling face first onto the garden floor.

"All that blood… the squeals... I'll have nightmares for weeks, maybe even for the rest of the summer…" Sora groaned. Pressing his face into the others shoulder blade, he felt his twin's body vibrate under him.

"Sor… get your fat ass off of me…"

"I'm not fat…"

"Then why are you crushing me?"

"Maybe it's because he's such a lazy bum." a familiar voice called from afar, ringing in their ears.

Rolling off the blonde's exhausted body; Sora laid himself flat on his back next to his younger brother. Peering up at the empty space, his blue eyes fluttered and began to dance with excitement once he found himself staring face to face with the source of the familiar voice.

"Riku!" Sora cried.

"Hey there spikey," The silverette grinned down at the brown haired prince, "I came here as soon as I read your letter." He said, his voice taking on a serious tone.

"I almost thought that you wouldn't come…" Sora pouted.

Seeing the look of distress adorning the baby faced prince, Riku settled himself down beside him before leaning over to press soft lips against the other's forehead, "Silly, I would never leave you, your highness, especially not like this."

"Urghh, get a room you guys…" Roxas grumbled. Lifting his face up a little, he glanced over his shoulder and watched the couple entangle themselves in a tight embrace, "Tell me, what are you doing here, Riku?"

Tucking Sora's head under his chin, the older boy eyed the young blond haired prince before looking down at the brunet in his arms, "You haven't told him yet?"

"Uh… No I—"

"Tell me what?" Roxas sat up now, his curiosity perked, "Sora? What are you hiding?"

"I, um… Riku?..." Sora looked up at the silver haired boy, but he just shook his head.

"Sora, you have to tell him."

"Yeah Sora, tell me." Roxas mocked, his arms crossed and blue eyes narrowed at him now.

"Well, where do I start?"

The blond rolled his eyes, "Come on Sora, spit it out. Riku seems to be here for a reason, and let me tell you, it's really no secret that you two are together either so don't—" Reevaluating his words, Roxas stopped instantly as his face began to fall. The wheels in his brain began to move and an understanding was beginning to sink in.

"R-roxas?" Sora squeaked, his face now reduced to a flushed mess, "See Riku! I told you he'd react this way."

"Shh! He's thinking, maybe he figured it out." Riku remarked.

"Y-you… You! And! A-and Riku!" Looking between the both of them Roxas' heart began to speed up. He was panicking now, "Oh my! Does father know!"

"Not so loud Roxas!" Sora hissed, "The guards might hear you…"

"See, told you he'd figure it out."

Scrambling out from Riku's tight embrace, Sora crawled over to his twin and gripped his shoulders, "I-I'm really sorry I didn't tell you earlier but—"

"How long?" Roxas asked, his face blank but his voice trembling now.

"What?"

"How long have you known that you were… You know?" Roxas' blue eyes clouded over. He was trying to hold himself back from yelling but he didn't know how long he'd be able to keep it in. All this time, he had thought his twin was being lazy as usual if not then just more so than normal. Pushing all the heavy work on him and then there was his constant nausea recently, it all made sense now.

"I've known for about a month now…"

"And you didn't think to tell me about this earlier?" the beating in his chest was hurting even more now.

"Roxas how was I supposed to explain myself? It's not exactly easy telling anybody that I'm p—pregnant… Not only that, but I'm still sixteen, just barely an adult..." The brunet's hold fell to the other's forearms, his fingers gliding lower until they reached the blonde's shaking hands, "Please understand, I didn't tell you earlier out of ignoring you or feeling like you didn't have the right to know…"

"Whatever! You still kept it a secret from me for so long! I'm your twin Sora! And, and—argh!" that was it. He finally snapped and it made Sora flinch back with surprise.

Yanking himself away from his twin, Roxas was up on his feet in no time. Without so much as another word or glance back, he found himself running, trying to get as far away as possible from his brother and his _lover_. Sora was left there on his knees, too shocked to move. Neither he nor Riku made a move to go after the blond but even if they did, he would have just snarled and bitten their heads off like the short-tempered boy he was.

Soon enough, Roxas found himself in the stables, ignoring everyone he passed by. Axel too was already there, tending to his own horse Ember but upon resting his bright green eyes on the fuming boy that passed by, he was taken aback by the sudden change in the blonde's attitude. Frowning, he was just about to ask what his problem was but Roxas worked too fast for him to even get a single word out. By the time he was able to utter the blond prince's name, he was already galloping out the doors on his horse.

Concerned for his wellbeing, Axel saddled up own his steed and booked it quickly out of the stables as well. He was grateful that the gates were open, but Roxas had quite the head start and was far ahead of him. Despite that little set back though, Axel was positive that Ember would be able to catch up. He really didn't mean to boast, but he was one of Radiant Garden's fastest riders, and Ember was no slack off either so trailing after the runaway prince wasn't a challenge at all, more like fun if he had to admit it.

Destiny was picking up speed with each second they ran. Roxas had no real direction or place he wanted to go to. He avoided the road to town all together, opting instead for the dirt trail that led deep into the woods. He just wanted to run, run as far away from Sora and Riku as he possibly could. His heart was racing, pounding loudly in his ears and it hurt. Everything inside hurt and it felt as though something was trying to squeeze the life from his small heart and suffocate him.

He loved his twin dearly, he truly did but having since met Riku when they were children—Sora and the noble from Radiant Garden were just as inseparable as he and the brunet were. Every time the silverette visited, it was always the same thing—he'd be ignored for the duration of the older boy's visit and no matter how much he wanted to spend time with his twin, he was never available—all because of Riku. And things just got even worse when Roxas found them in the gardens two years before, kissing under the tree. That day had really broken him. He never confronted his older brother about what he saw, but that day was burned into his memory, so much so that it haunted him at times. Now that the two were with child, he just didn't know what to think now.

The sound of another horse galloping close behind him inched closer and closer but it could not break the zombie-like trance he was in.

"Roxas!" Axel called out but the boy did not waver, "Damn, he must really be out of it. Come on Ember, give it all you've got boy!" he urged.

Giving his redheaded master a whinny, the ash colored horse pushed himself forward, taking longer strides until he was running up right beside the painted black and white mare. Unfortunately the prince's horse was _not_ pleased by this stranger being so close to her and her master and in the spur of the moment she shot out to try and nip the other in the face as she neighed wildly in protest.

"What the—! Great Shiva! Like master like horse!" Axel exclaimed in surprise as he yanked the reigns to his left in order to give the temperamental mare some room before she attacked again.

Ember was displeased by the turn of events he found himself and his master in. He knew very well that the redhead wanted this boy's attention but the rider's horse seemed to be just as stubborn as her blond haired rider. Her dark eyes were narrowed at him especially and she was not letting him get any closer. But Axel's desperation was egging him on, and he had to please his master's wishes no matter what the consequences. Without any further hesitations, Ember rode up beside the threatening mare once more but this time he was careful to steer clear of that bite of hers.

Unfortunately for the ash colored stallion, the young mare was no fool and she was not about to let him or the red haired rider come anywhere near Roxas if it was the last thing she did. To everyone's utter shock, she came to a complete stop, nearly throwing off her own master in the process as he bounced up from her saddle. During the confusion she then aimed a nice kick with both her hind legs at the surprised pair, startling all three boys.

"D-Destiny!" Roxas shouted, his body feeling more like a rag doll now that his mare was going maniacal, "What's wrong? Destiny!"

"Roxas!" Axel cried, trying desperately to control Ember and lead him away from the aggressive mare that belonged to the blond haired prince, "Control your horse!"

"Prince Axel? What are you—"

"Don't look at me like that, control your horse before she tears Ember and I to pieces!"

Pulling on Destiny's reigns, it took quite a bit for Roxas to get her under control before she was somewhat calmed down. But even so, the painted mare was still anxious being around the other two and she made her discomfort known through her ragged breathing and heavy steps as she swayed her body to and fro.

"Don't come any closer." Roxas warned.

"I know, why do you think Ember isn't going anywhere near you?" Axel pointed out, his stallion feeling a little irked now by the mare's overprotective nature towards the blond rider.

Patting Destiny's neck, the mare shook all over, "She's not usually like this… you okay girl?"

The mare neighed in response, her whinny sounding more like the whine of a young child. Roxas could tell instantly that she was not happy and he seemed to know why. But at least he knew that he wasn't the only one upset here now.

"And what's she saying Roxy?"

Being called _Roxy_, was something he really didn't like, and coming from Axel just made it feel ten times worse. Frowning, Roxas rolled his blue eyes, "She basically said that she doesn't like you. Both you and your horse. And at the moment, neither do I." he finally said.

With that, Destiny trotted ahead of the stunned pair, her hips swaying as if to entice the two to follow them but once she glanced back, she gave Ember a glare and then kicked up a few clots of dirt to make her point clear.

Axel's jaw dropped. Even Ember was at a loss himself. Looking up at his master, Axel did nothing at first until finally he looked down between his stallion and the retreating blond with his spunky young mare.

"Did you see that? I mean, come on! Those two are really just—! Man!" he was nearly screaming now, his hands combing roughly through his red locks, "Hey! Wait up blondie!"

Ember did not want to follow after the two, but Axel persisted. Despite his protest, the stallion sucked up his pride and did as he was directed but kept up a fair distance so as not to upset the mare any further. But Destiny was distressed as it was and instantly she was on him in a second, neighing loudly in his face and giving him a huff. This took a turn for the worst and Ember was frightened to the point of standing on his hind legs.

"Whoa—whoa!" Axel shouted but it was no use and he fell right off the saddle to the ground.

"Destiny!" Roxas tried to scold but his laughter broke through and he sat there pointing down at the humiliated redhead.

"Huh, you find it funny do ya?"

"Y-yes." He choked, struggling to contain himself but to no avail. Even Destiny was neighing wildly now, as if she too were laughing at the redhead alongside her master.

"Ha, ha, ha… Jeez, demented prince… and he has a demented horse to match that personality of his too, oh joy!"

"Whatever…" Roxas mumbled but cracked a guilty smile.

Getting up on shaky legs, Axel dusted himself off before approaching his horse again, "Well, now that I have your attention, mind telling me why you were in such a rush?"

Lowering his gaze down to stare at his hands clutched tightly at the reigns, Roxas didn't feel it was a good idea to talk about his feelings and to this total stranger no less.

"Come on, you need to let it out sometime you know?"

"And why should I?"

"Because," Placing his left foot on the stirrup, the redhead easily lifted himself back up onto the saddle, "If you keep it bottled up inside, whatever it is that's bothering you will eat you up from the inside out. And it hurts, and it will keep hurting you so much that when the time does come, you won't be able to stop the tears from falling."

Placing a hand over his chest, Roxas felt the place where his heart was throbbing uncontrollably. And it did hurt. It was an inexplicable pain and more than anything he wanted it gone, he wanted it to go away.

Swallowing nervously, Axel tried to get Ember to move closer to the younger prince again but his stallion would not budge this time having already faced the wrath of the boy's painted mare one too many times as it is, "Oh you, you're such a coward Ember…"

"I—I, it hurts…" Roxas admitted quietly, his hand still over his heart, "Right in here."

Axel's face softened, "See, I told you. Think you can tell me what happened now? Or do you need more time?"

The look of concern, the softness on the other's face, it made him blush. Hoping to conceal his embarrassed expression, Roxas kept his eyes down, "Well um… just, I—ride with me!"

"Excuse me?" the redhead blinked several times, stunned by the prince's sudden request.

"Y-you heard me! Just ride with me okay…" pouting at him, there was no way in hell that Axel was going to say no, not with that innocent look on the blonde's face just screaming for him not to leave him alone, "Besides, I'm still on punishment and… and I need to show you around, right?"

"Oh I see." He chuckled, "Now how in the world could I say no to you, your highness?" Axel grinned.

"Be quiet…" Roxas huffed but led the way nonetheless.

Smiling, Axel felt a bit of relief that the boy was at least letting him in, if only a little but it was much better than nothing so he didn't complain, "Whatever you say my prince, whatever you say."

-x-x-x-x-

The pair rode on to the edge of the forest until the Cosmo Canyon came in view. They didn't venture any further though but Roxas explained as much as he could about what he knew. Axel listened intently, his interested peeked and he became even more engrossed when the blond began his story of when he and Sora stole Cloud's horse, Fenrir. Back then, they were only six years old, and being abnormally adventurous they took a ride out to the Cosmo Canyon for some fun and it was there that they met Nanaki who was injured at the time. Roxas explained his persistence to stay and take care of Nanaki, which had resulted in the twins being missing for a day before Leon found them. As a result of their outing, Nanaki was taken back to Nibelheim where he recovered and since then had stayed with the royal family while also watching over the princes.

Axel was quite astonished by the story but nonetheless he came to a better understanding now as to why such a creature like the wolf like beast Nanaki was living with Roxas. Not only that, but after learning about this nurturing side the blond male possessed, it made him like the boy even more now.

From the edge of the forest, the two rode back the same path until Roxas took another route and Axel followed. Ember continued to keep himself at a distance from Destiny, and it made the redhead quite annoyed but then again who would want to be on the bad end of a horse like her? So he stuck it out as best he could. Roxas though, he didn't seem at all very bothered by the hostility Destiny kept stubbornly emitting. But whatever the case, Axel was still in the prince's proximity and that was enough for him, at least for now that is.

Hours passed as they pressed on, talking about themselves and telling stories. At some point, Axel revealed that he was best friends with Riku, something that obviously made Roxas cringe. Luckily the redhead was quick to notice his mistake and switched the conversation to one of the times he had gone to town dressed in a beggar's clothes for fun with his friend Demyx. It was a nice save but Roxas questioned him about it since he never felt the need to hide himself in such a way whenever he made public appearances in Nibelheim. This, Axel had to explain was because Radiant Garden was much bigger in comparison to Nibelheim but also because it had its dangers—dangers that Roxas wouldn't be able to understand because he grew up so very well sheltered and bathed in a world where there was true integrity among his people.

It was well around the afternoon from what Axel could gather now, but he still had more to say—as did Roxas. Around them, the trees were growing familiar but the redhead knew that this wasn't the way to the castle. Just as soon as he thought this though, the blond haired prince was already trotting faster, and Axel had to gallop a little just to keep up. Soon, Roxas was back at the river, the only difference was that this time it was just him and Axel to enjoy the scenery.

"Whoa! Would you look at this…"

"It's nice isn't it?"

"Nice?" Axel smirked, "This is more than nice it is amazing!"

"Heh, I guess. To tell you the truth, I was here just yesterday… you know? After you distracted my father long enough for all of us to escape… I never got to thank you for that." Roxas said slowly, his eyes lifting little by little to peer up at his companion.

"It's no problem at all. I'd have done the same, though I must tell you… King Leon really is a force to be reckoned with. Honestly, if looks could kill—I'd have been dead in less than a second! Because right after you all booked it, he was glaring daggers at me!"

"Ha! You think he's scary? My dad, Cloud is even worse! Just because he seems tamed doesn't mean he'll go easy on you!"

"Really now? Well this I have got to see before the end of the summer then."

The blond chuckled and shook his head, "No way, I really doubt you'd want to face Cloud's wrath."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive!" Roxas replied before jumping off his saddle and grabbing the scabbard that held his bow and arrows which were attached to the side.

Axel did the same too, and followed Roxas down towards the water's edge. Though, unlike Roxas, he was weaponless. Still it didn't stop him from watching the blond march into the water, "Are you going fishing? And with a bow?" he asked, quirking an eye brow as he looked at him skeptically. This was really peculiar he thought.

"Yes, I am. Is that bad?"

"No, but it is rather odd don't you think?"

"Pft, my father taught me this and not to brag or anything but I am pretty good at archery." Roxas stated, his fingers releasing the string. Seeing the arrow fly straight into the running water, he was quick to retrieve it and trudged back over to Axel with a miraculous catch of two fish squirming wildly on that single arrow.

Smirking at the redhead, he waved the heavy arrow in front of him before shoving the suffocating morsels in his hands, "Now, be a good boy and start cooking, I still have a meal to catch for us because I'm pretty sure you're gonna wanna eat more than just one fish."

Nodding silently in response, Roxas left Axel there on the shore standing dumbfounded and just amazed by his skills. No, not just his skills but everything about the blond haired prince so far. This was just the icing on the cake, Axel was quite sure of it and he couldn't wait to dig in even further now to see what else there was about the boy.

It took a few nudges from Ember to get Axel's mind back in gear. He was grateful for it though, and doing what Roxas told him, he built them a fire and began fixing up their supper. Roxas returned shortly after he got the flames growing with three more fish on his persons. He was happy and jokingly asked the blond to teach him how to fish using his unique technique. This, Roxas didn't object to, and he agreed so long as the redhead was willing to spend time with him. Of course Axel jumped for the very chance he got. Though surprised, the large grin on his face was evident and it showed Roxas how truly happy the red haired prince was feeling.

Sharing a meal together while sitting side by side around their fire, Axel couldn't help but smile so much. His day took an odd turn but he didn't regret it and hoped that there would be many more days like this to come with Roxas. Speaking of which, he had nearly forgotten why he followed the boy in the first place. Quickly finishing up his third helping, Axel threw the remaindered of his fish into the fire and watched it burn.

"Well, I've done as you've asked. Do you think you're comfortable with telling me what it is that was hurting you so much now?"

"Uh…" Lowering the fish from his lips, Roxas swallowed the contents already in his mouth and frowned, "I almost forgot about that…"

"Either that, or you just wanted to avoid it."

"No, I didn't avoid it I just—I was really happy…"

"You were?"

"Yes, I truly was."

"Well that's good, I wouldn't want you to continue being so upset." Axel said with a soft smile.

"I bet you noticed how I reacted to Riku's name earlier, right?"

Axel nodded, "How could I have missed that? Does your being upset have something to do with him?"

"Yes, it does actually…" he admitted and he sounded quite guilty for feeling that way too.

"Why?"

"B-because… he and my… my brother… they're so close…" there was a lot of hesitation in his voice, and Axel could see him begin to tremble now.

"You don't like it very much, do you?" Axel asked, his green eyes growing worried now.

The younger boy shook his head. Dropping his unfinished meal into the dirt, he brought his knees up to his chest and hid his face from view.

"Well, look at it this way; everyone has all kinds of relationships with different people. The friendship between Sora and Riku is of course going to be different than the one he has with you. And besides, you're brothers, blood is always thicker you know? So why are you upset about it?"

"Because!" Roxas yelled this time, but his voice shook and Axel was none too surprised by his reaction, "E-every time…" he sniffled, "Every he visits, Sora ignores me… sometimes it feels like I don't exist to him when Riku is around… and it hurts! I don't know what to do and I can't tell Sora and make him choose between him or me because then he'll cry… and for a while now, they've been seeing each behind my back—it isn't friendship anymore between them! It's—it's!"

"They're lovers now, aren't they?" Axel stared carefully at the blond, but he did not once lift his face up from his hiding place to meet his gaze.

"Yes… I saw them, two years ago in the garden. Riku confessed his feelings then and they kissed… they don't know that I watched… that is until now…"

Slowly but surely, Roxas was becoming a shaking mess of sobs. Axel could not handle seeing him like this though, and without thinking, he reached out towards him, only to bring the smaller boy's body to his in a tight embrace. The blonde's tremors became even shakier and he collapsed forward, willingly nestling himself in the redhead's arms as he clutched tightly to his front.

"I—I didn't know the extent of their relationship or how far they would go but—but today, I learned that Riku and Sora!—they're with a child now, and I'm so angry that Sora didn't think to tell me the very second he found out!" Roxas cried into his chest.

The sudden revelation nearly scared Axel out of his skin. His best friend, Riku Jenova was with child now? And with Sora Strife Leonhart? He had to catch his breath for a moment but he now knew how very upsetting it was on blond to have been kept in the dark. Now that he thought about it, Axel had very nearly forgotten about the Strife family's bloodline. Though it was odd, even he had to admit it, he could see why this would be a predicament, not only that but seeing as Sora was pregnant now, it was bound to make one of many nice scandalous stories among the noble gossip chains and fill up every royal's court on the continent.

"Shh, it's alright Roxas…" Axel whispered quietly, his fingers dancing up the boy's small back as he reached to stroke the locks of blond hair, "I know you're upset, but what's happened, happened and there isn't anything we can do about it. All we can do though is accept the situation as it is and adjust. Do you understand?"

Roxas continued to shake, but Axel knew he was trying to calm himself down. Feeling a nod of the blonde's head rubbing against his chest, he smiled softly—relieved that the boy at least understood that he couldn't control what had happened.

"I know that the relationship between Sora and Riku isn't something you're comfortable with, heck if I was you I'd probably be throwing a tantrum but they love each other and we can't get in the way of that. Now, to solve at least half of your problem I believe that you should try to tell Sora how you feel—you know, about being ignored by him? Do you think you can do that?"

"M-maybe…" Roxas squeaked. This made Axel a little happy since he was trying to make the effort to speak instead of using his body language.

"You don't have to do it right away, but I want you to at least be brave enough to let go of how you feel. I don't know what will happen when you do tell him but I can assure you that releasing all those negative thoughts inside you, is a lot better than keeping it in." he said. Pushing the teary eyed blond back a little, just enough for him to see his sniffling face, it was then that Axel leaned down to press his lips against the other's forehead.

Instantly, Roxas blushed the very moment Axel's lips touched his skin. He could feel the other's lips lingering, brushing against his skin several times before slowly they were pulling away. And he was shocked with himself once those soft lips left the contact of his skin, because he wanted Axel to do it again, he wanted the feeling back, the rush of excitement that was pounding in his chest. It was a different sort of pain than the one he felt earlier and it made him curious.

Watching the younger boy intently, Axel could see how much he was affecting him and he took pride in it, "That took a lot of courage for you to tell me all of this Roxas, and I really appreciate you opening up to me. Just know that, no matter what you can tell me anything, alright?" he said, this time his hand reaching out to stroke his tear stained cheek.

Roxas could only nod his head, too speechless and nervous to say anything.

Axel chuckled at his reaction, he couldn't help but find it so damn adorable, "Now, let me ask you, do you feel lighter?"

"L-lighter?" he asked, his head a little dizzy still from the kiss to his forehead and now the hand on his cheek.

"Yes, lighter. In here." Axel pressed his finger softly against Roxas' throbbing chest.

Gulping, he didn't know whether to be happy or surprised that Axel managed to find just where his heart was. Still, the redhead continued to wait for an answer from him, so he nodded his head, "I think so…"

"You better be sure." he mused before moving his hand up to ruffle the tuffs of blond hair.

Just as Axel was about to pull his hand away from the boy's front, Roxas reached forward only to entwine their fingers together and press his hand deeper into his chest. Axel could feel the quickening beat of the other's heart right beneath his fingertips and he was very startled as to why the blond was doing this to him in the first place. Was this young prince's heart going biolistic now because of him he had to wonder? If so, should he take pride in it? Because really, it wasn't every day that Axel had such a beautiful boy like this in his arms. A woman would have made sense but Roxas, Roxas was different and Axel didn't feel at all disgusted with himself. If anything, this all felt right, it felt perfect to him.

The heat from the fire was long forgotten at this point, and the two could feel something else grow between them—a different kind of fire, one that could not be seen so easily. Slowly the princes found themselves leaning in towards each other, their hands weaved tightly together as their eyes began to fall shut. To them, it was a natural pull, a need that they had to fulfill and that was to close the short distance between them. They shouldn't have to fight this force they thought and just as they were about to touch, Fate had other plans in store for them for it. In the next second, Destiny, Roxas' mare, she whinnied quite loudly, her sudden whine causing the pair to blink before breaking apart abruptly and scrambling to their feet.

Just as Roxas went to relieve his finicky horse of whatever was stressing her, he found the girl at it again, kicking wildly in poor Ember's direction for some odd reason. Why she hadn't done that earlier before while they were eating supper was a mystery to them both. Roxas was actually relieved that Destiny was able to get him back to his senses again but Axel on the other hand—he wasn't too happy with the disruption at all. If anything, he was cursing the damn horse with his very being and to every deity that he knew for ruining such a beautiful moment.

-x-x-x-x-

Axel and Roxas made it back to the castle safe and sound despite it being so late. Again, the blond was scolded but after explaining that he was just giving the redhead a tour of the town and suggesting a day of riding together, he was dismissed from receiving any more creative punishments from his two worry wart fathers.

Cleaning himself up and heading off to bed, Axel and Roxas bided a good night to each other, though Roxas was a bit nervous during his parting, Axel could see that and it highly amused him to no end even when the blond was gone and out of sight.

Alone in his room, Roxas reflected on the redhead's words by the river. He was right. Taking a deep breath, he made his way over to the bed before pushing the heavy thing away as far as he could to reveal a trap door right there in the stone floor. Almost every room in the entire castle had a secret door and it was like a maze once you stepped in but the idea behind the passageways was to give the residents of the estate a route to use if the castle were ever to be overtaken. He and Sora used them all the time to sneak around for their own amusement and it was times like these where he was glad he didn't have to go knocking on doors in the hallways either.

Lifting up the small door, Roxas sighed again before jumping right down into the darkness. Very few people now ever used these routes, but Roxas—he knew these parts of the castle like the back of his hand and it was no trouble at all making his way down to Sora's bedroom. Crawling on his hands and knees, he made it to his destination in no time and was careful to push open the other side of the door as quietly as he could. Unlike his trap door, Sora had a much easier access to his since it was hidden behind a tapestry. But that was the thing about Sora's room that made the escape route far too obvious to find.

Opening the door wide enough for him to crawl out onto the stone floor, Roxas rolled out until he was in the clear.

"R-roxas? What are you doing here?" Sora asked. Lifting himself up from his bed, he rubbed his swollen blue eyes. The brunet had clearly been crying for a long time and it stabbed at Roxas' heart to see his disheveled form.

Looking around the room, there was not a head of silver hair in sight. That was a good sign at least. Getting up, Roxas plopped himself on his twin's bed before throwing his arms around the other's shoulders, "I-I came here to apologize for getting so angry with you earlier…"

"Oh Roxas…" Sora returned the hug just as tightly and buried his face into the other's shoulder.

"Sora, I'm… I'm not sure you know this but, I don't like having to share your attention whenever Riku is around..." Roxas finally admitted, at long last, "I feel ignored by you every time he is here, and I—I don't know what to do sometimes, and it hurts…"

"I'm sorry that I neglected your feelings in favor of Riku… but—but I'm in love with him, I've been in love with him for years…" Sora murmured against him but Roxas had no trouble catching any of it, "But what I feel for you Roxas, Riku can never compare. You're irreplaceable. It doesn't matter if he takes my heart away, because I know that our relationship, it will always be stronger." Pulling away from the other's shoulder, he looked into his younger brother's eyes and smiled softly, "After all, we are brothers—we're twins and there is nothing in this world that can come between what we have."

No longer could Roxas hold back his tears. As he sat there, entangled in his brother's arms, the both of them cried together, relishing in one another's presence. Just knowing that they had each other—no matter what happened, that was enough.

Somehow, the two found themselves falling back into the sheets of the brunet's bed, their identical blue eyes staring back at one another. Their finger's searched until they were finally holding hands, connected tightly now and refusing to ever let go. Though they didn't speak, they understood each other through their silence and that night they fell asleep, hand in hand, curled up so close that it was like their bodies were one.

-x-x-x-x-

Several weeks passed now, Sora still had yet to tell their father's about his little bun in the oven but both Roxas and Riku assured him that they would be there when he was ready to tell them. Axel, though still slightly unnerved by Riku's actions with Sora was happy to have his best friend around and the two often talked during meal times but other than that they spent their time with their own respective Strife twin. Kairi had nothing better to do herself but after spending some time with Sora, she was always found close by at his side which both Roxas and Axel found quite amusing. Roxas went so far as to call her a lost puppy, which she wasn't very happy with at all. Riku too wasn't pleased with her since it meant that he was having an even harder time than before sneaking quality time with his brunet haired lover but after being reminded by Roxas that he already made a claim on his dear brother, there wasn't anything to worry about. Well not too much at least.

Though the friendship between Axel and Roxas started out rocky, the immense amount of time that they spent together in each other's company each and every day that passed by helped to speed up their fast growing familiarity with one another. Soon enough, Nibelheim didn't see one prince without the other and if they were apart, someone was bound to ask, 'Where is Axel?' or 'Where is Roxas?'

The same could not be said for their horses though. At this point, Roxas was confused and had absolutely no idea as to why Destiny had yet to allow Ember or Axel anywhere near her. Even when they went out riding together, Axel was still forced to gallop at a slow pace several feet behind her in fear of the painted mare attacking him and his horse whenever the opportunity presented itself. Despite it being so off putting for both the redhead and him, they worked around it as best they could. As long as they were in each other's presence, they were capable of adjusting to whatever situation they found themselves in.

Soon enough, the twin's seventeenth birthday arrived, and a party was thrown in celebration. Roxas wasn't at all as excited as he should have been, but it was only because he could see his twin beginning to show now. Sora's morning sickness was becoming even more frequent than before, and it took not only him but the help of Axel and Riku as well to cover Sora whenever it seemed like he would be found out. Not only that, but the brunet was growing pickier with his meals. Some day's he would be eating like a horse and other days he'd barely touch his plate. They had a close call after lunch one time when Cloud came into the room asking what was wrong. Had it not been for Riku's sacrifice, Cloud might have figured it out. Sadly for Riku though, their blond haired father had placed him on his hit list but Axel got his wish and saw a taste of what the older man's temper was like.

Now here the twins were, with both Axel and Riku by their sides, standing like a bunch of awkward ninnies. Leon had told them to mingle and make conversation with as many of the guests as they possibly could but both boys were not up to it and instead defied orders and were now standing in the corner of the ball room as a result. Sora couldn't eat very much, and it was something to worry about since he had an innocent life growing inside him to worry about.

"Can I get you anything Sora?" Riku asked again for the fifth time that night.

Rolling his eyes, Roxas was losing his patience, as was Axel. It was one thing to care but Riku was acting like an overbearing mother hen now and that didn't sit well with Sora at all.

"No I'm fine, nothing at the table looks good enough anyways…" Sora murmured tiredly. All he wanted was to go upstairs to his room and sleep but being one of the birthday boys, he couldn't leave without getting caught along the way.

"But you need to eat something you've barely touched anything at all today."

"Riku, please… I am really, really tired and I'm cranky. I've been experiencing more morning sickness than I ever have before in my entire life and I'd like to breathe and do things my way!" The brunet snapped.

The three boys winced around the pregnant teen but didn't say anything. It was fine though, because that was what Sora really wanted after all. Now if only they could get everyone else to just shut up with all the drunken speech and merriment.

Usually Axel was a true party animal when it came to these sorts of events but tonight his attention was obscured and detached. The girls who did brave across the room for his attention were promptly turned away without so much as a word—merely the wave of his hand or a single glance from his cold green eyes was enough for them to stop in their tracks and trudge back to wherever they came from with their tails between their legs.

He was glad the blond prince didn't notice but Riku was well aware of his change in attitude. The reason for his foul mood and disinterest was because of the devil's daughter herself, Larxene Morgan. How in the hell she managed to get an invite to the twin's seventeenth birthday he didn't know but he sure as hell wished that she'd just disappear already. The very reason he was in Nibelheim in the first place was so that he could take a vacation from having to see her in his palace nearly every day in Radiant Garden!

The lady was a part of Ansem's court and she was the daughter of one of his father's closest friends. He didn't know how their engagement came to be, but it was there and it had been set in place even before he understood the concept of marriage. But then he could not protest against marrying such a beast like her. He tried to fight off the upcoming wedding in the fall months before arriving here in Nibelheim but the ensuing argument between him and the court was vicious and he lost the battle after they threatened him about pulling out their support to the king, his father.

Axel was a defeated man despite his efforts to hide it. He didn't have long now before the summer came to an end, and he knew that by the time he returned home there would be a new life waiting for him in Radiant Garden—one he knew he would be unhappy with. But he didn't want Roxas to know that, no; he would play the part of the best friend like any good man. The only difference was that in the short period of just several weeks he was already falling in love and with the young blond prince of Nibelheim no less. But he didn't care, because he knew once his union with Larxene happened, he would not give her his heart because it would always belong to some else.

Riku was well aware of what was probably ailing his dear friend, Prince Axel. From the direction in which the redhead was glaring at, he could see the she-wolf herself, Larxene Morgan hanging off the arm of another noble, Marluxia Vain. What in the world she was doing here was a mystery to him but it was no secret that Axel held the darkest and deepest hatred for the young woman.

"Axel, are you alright?" Roxas finally asked, his blue eyes sad and filled with the upmost concern for him.

The older male sighed heavily and it didn't go unnoticed, "There's just someone here that has been making me feel very uncomfortable. But don't worry about it; once the night is over and they're gone I'll be alright again."

The blond wasn't satisfied with his answer though and he frowned, his eye brows kneaded closely together in frustration, "Who is it? Tell me and I'll deal with it."

"Roxas don't, I said that I'll be okay once the party is over."

"No, I don't want this birthday if it makes you unhappy." Roxas was almost shouting. Turning his attention to Riku, he gave the silverette a stern look, "Do you know who it is Riku?"

Axel quickly turned to his best friend and shook his head, his eyes begging the silver headed noble not to say a word to the blond but Riku just shrugged. Crossing his arms, he let a smirk play across his lips and a glow of mischief twinkled in those aqua blue colored eyes of his.

"Her name is Larxene Morgan, she is a noble from Radiant Garden just like me. She's the one with bright blond hair, blue eyes and those two little strands of hair that stick out and make her look like the devil's daughter."

"Riku you traitor…" Axel hissed.

Roxas blinked, clearly surprised that Riku would even release that information to him so easily. But nonetheless he looked for the said girl and quickly spotted her on the other side of the ballroom, a goblet in hand. She was one of the loudest guests he had seen so far at the party tonight and that just made him dislike her even more.

"That woman!" Sora exclaimed, "She looks like a rabid gorgonopsid!"

"Oh believe me, she's worse than that. The girl is a behemoth." Riku commented.

"Argh can we please just drop it already!" Axel groaned.

Clasping his hands down on the redhead's shoulder, Riku shook his head, "No can do, and besides its already too late now. So you had better prepare yourself."

"For what?" Axel asked, this time he was curious.

"Just wait and see." Roxas replied, having somehow produced a small dagger in his hand as he began twirling it expertly between his fingers.

"You're going to murder her!" The redheaded prince exclaimed, shocked now that Roxas would even go so far or even think of such an idea.

"No way!" Sora laughed, a plate of cake now in his hands but he didn't move to take a bite out of it for some reason and that unnerved Axel even more.

"Axel, my dear friend, just sit back and enjoy the show." Riku was smiling now, like really smiling and it wasn't just an everyday smile either, it looked far too sadistic to be one, "Now be amazed by what these twins are really capable of, alright!" he laughed.

With that said, Roxas stepped back. The ballroom's decorations were quite elaborate he had to admit and he did like it for the most part since it was pretty to look at but he liked it even more now since the many pedestals hanging around the walls held clear vases filled with summer flowers. Not only that but where there were flowers, there was water and the vases that contained them held quite the large amount of it. And probably the best part of it all was that Lady Larxene Morgan was standing under one of the said pedestals. Giving his twin a smirk, Sora nodded in reply and weaved his way through the crowds of people, avoiding all who tried to get in his way until he was a good distance closer to their target.

With Sora in place where he was supposed to be, Roxas quickly flung the blade into the air. It went so fast that no one caught sight of it as it flew over the waltzing guests across the ballroom and hit its target dead on. In that instant, the vase shattered loudly, catching everyone off guard as the glass pieces went flying out around the group that stood below it. Roxas didn't expect there to be so much water, but the more there was the better because once the water showered down on the beastly girl, she screamed at the top of her lungs. As if on cue, Sora kneeled down and slid the plate of cake he had until it arrived sitting right behind Larxene. And just like they expected, she stepped back until her heel met the center of the cake and she slipped on it, falling backwards with an even more terrifying scream than before.

All Axel could do was stare, mortified as his fiancée went flying into the air, flashing practically everything there was that could be seen under that ridiculous gown of hers. Next to him, Riku was laughing the hardest he had ever seen him laugh before in his life and Roxas was no better off either. Sora came back quickly, he too laughing and gasping all at the same time. Unfortunately their moment of amusement was short lived because the sound of Leon's booming voice filled the room.

"Sora! Roxas!" And just like that, the four boys booked it out—escaping quickly to the balcony where Axel and Roxas jumped down into the darkness of the gardens while Sora led Riku towards another secret door in the stone wall.

Gripping his hand tightly, Roxas led Axel as far as he could into the garden until they stood by the edge of the rosebush maze. Both were panting now but from what they could tell, they were safe and that was all that mattered.

"Dear Shiva, I can't believe you did that!"

"Haha, what do you mean?"

"Well!" Axel's hands began to move in the air, trying to explain himself but he was still in so much shock, "That! All of that! I mean you could have hurt someone with that knife! But I mean that— god it was only really Larxene but still!—ohh Shiva this is… this is just—"

"Amazing right?" Roxas grinned.

"Yes actually." Axel finally sighed, his green eyes gentle now as he moved to wrap strong arms around Roxas's shoulders.

The younger boy just blinked, but he returned the gesture, embracing the taller prince closely to him. He could feel his heart pounding, racing, but the feeling was nice especially being in Axel's arms. The fluttering in his stomach and quickening beat of his heart had become routine now but only whenever he was with Axel. He would jump now when he was around the redhead and never once did he ever leave his side either. He had never felt this way before in his life and he wondered if this was how Sora first felt when he and Riku became friends. This must be the start of what love feels like.

All too soon, Axel pulled away, leaving Roxas whining a little over the loss of contact. The redhead chuckled though, and brought his hand to the other's check, stroking the soft skin with his thumb.

"You are quite beautiful under the moon light, did you know that?"

The softest of smiles broke across his lips, and he leaned into the other's hand, "No, you're the first to tell me so."

"I am? Well then, it's an honor to be your first." He replied, his face leaning down towards the others.

In the short amount of time since having met, Axel had never encountered someone so full of emotions and life. This boy, this prince, he could be unpredictable, he was boundless and free—never letting anyone tell him what to do. Even having witnessed Leon scolding him over and over about meeting a potential wife, some noble girl named Xion Lior, Roxas just crossed his arms then and threw all his feelings into the air. He thought the blond only _interesting_ at first, but now, now he was certain that this person, Prince Roxas is the one that he was destined to give his heart to.

"You know, your highness… I never gave you your birthday gift." Axel whispered, his breath making the skin on Roxas' face blush and twinkle from how close he was.

"I-It's okay, I mean you don't have to give me anything, really." He tried to insist, his body beginning to tremble in the other's strong arms.

"But I want to give you something." The redhead said, his green eyes sparkling under the moving light that was reflected off the moon.

Gulping, Roxas couldn't find it in his heart to say no, so he reluctantly nodded his head in reply.

Smiling, Axel leaned down until their noses touched, "Close your eyes." He said softly, almost breathlessly.

Doing just as he said, Roxas' eyes fell and his vision was casted into darkness. Satisfied, Axel took in the sight, staring at the boy's flawless skin, the youthfulness in his structure. He was almost the spitting image of his father Cloud, and Axel had a feeling that he would be just as beautiful too when he got older. Smiling, he finally pressed forward until his lips at long last met the young prince in a chaste kiss.

Roxas felt his heart soar, and immediately he pushed back into the other's lips. His hands instantly went up to wrap themselves around the taller boy's neck, bringing him down as close as possible. Axel was thoroughly surprised by the younger boy's reaction but even so he welcomed it with other arms. The blond began to moan into the kiss, his lips parting ever so slightly and it was then that Axel took his chance and dove his tongue in to taste the caverns of his mouth.

The excitement rose the blonde's chest. Never before had he ever engaged in such physical activities as this before in his life. He was very sure that Sora and Riku did this many times and were probably already masters at it unlike Roxas himself. He was still quite new to all of this intimacy and struggled to keep up with Axel as best he could.

The battle for dominance between their tongues was really something that Roxas failed at and quickly Axel had him beaten. The kiss was getting heated and sloppy now and without even thinking Roxas arched forward to grind his hips into the redhead's body. Axel shivered at this, and commended the blond in his head for exciting him so quickly. He could feel himself getting hard down there and it was both a good and bad sign—mostly bad but he had control or at least he was trying to keep himself in control but Roxas was demanding and he had to stay a few steps ahead of the boy in order to keep his throne of power between them.

Just as Axel was about to roll his hips back into the blonde's, a roar was heard just behind them, and the pair pulled apart instantly with labored pants. There stood none other than Nanaki and Axel glared at the offending beast for ruining his moment with the blond. Really, was everyone trying to destroy what intimate time he could make with Roxas?

"Na-nanaki? H-hey…" Roxas laughed nervously, his cheeks flushed deeply now.

"Yeah, hey there…" Axel added, the anger in his voice clear as day.

"Good evening, I see that you two were enjoying yourselves, so I'm sorry for intruding but your father wants you Roxas."

"Why? If it's because of what I did in the ballroom I can explain but—"

"No, it's Sora."

"Sora?" Immediately the color drained from his face and before Nanaki could finish, the blond was already seen sprinting back towards the castle in search of his twin.

-x-x-x-x-

Sora laid in his bed, a cold wet towel placed gently on his forehead as Cloud sat beside him, Leon pacing back and forth around the and Riku standing up against the wall with his arms crossed silently. Roxas threw the door open instantly, panting heavily as he entered the room followed by Nanaki and Axel. All was quiet and the space suddenly felt thick with tension now that Leon had everyone gathered.

"For a while now, I've noticed all of you hiding something that has been pertaining to Sora. Don't think that I didn't see, because I did. And now that we're all here, start talking." Leon said, his voice cold and hard.

No one in the room said anything at first and this just made Leon's patience deteriorate even more.

"Father…" Sora squeaked and tried to sit up from his bed but Cloud pushed him gently back down, determined to keep his son from overexerting himself, "I'm pregnant with Riku's child." He finally said, his voice calm and controlled but who knew how long he would be able to keep it up.

"What?" Leon's eyes widened and he turned to stare at Riku who instantly froze in place out of pure fear.

"I was the one that urged him to keep going so please don't get mad at him!" Sora suddenly yelled, afraid that his father would kill the silverette on the spot.

Seeing this, Roxas ran quickly and stood in front of Riku—shielding him from Leon in case he did try to hurt his brother's lover.

"Father please don't…" Roxas said.

Turning away from both his youngest son and Riku, he looked back at Sora and glared, "It takes two to tango Sora! And I am not happy with you—all of you for that matter!" he yelled, turning his gaze to all who were in the room.

"I love Riku father!" Sora exclaimed, tears quickly filling his eyes.

Hearing that, Leon had just about turned heel, only to shove Roxas roughly out of the way. His hands instantly went to the silverette's front shirt as he lifted the younger boy up into the air. Axel couldn't stand there anymore and quickly helped Roxas back up to his feet before the blond scrambled to try and pry his father's hands off of the silver haired noble but the king's grip did not relent.

"Father! Don't hurt him! Please!" Roxas cried, desperately trying to get the older man to release the silverette.

Cloud didn't make a single move to help Leon and instead busied himself with holding a wailing Sora back from running up to rescue his lover. Axel was at a loss for words and Nanaki simply sat in the background, waiting.

Riku was truly frightened now. He knew the king was strong but he didn't know that he was so powerful as to lift him up off the floor in such a violent manner like this. He stared into the majesty's dark blue eyes, they were different from Sora's, very different. They didn't sparkle and shine with life as easily as Sora's did, if anything they were as deep and dark as the ocean floor and that scared him—not knowing what there was to expect. Anything could happen.

The king glared down at the boy in his clutches, ignoring everything around him in favor of staring down at this one person, "Do you know what you did to my son?"

The silverette couldn't speak and instead nodded his head. That only made Leon angrier so he shook him.

"Talk! I will not allow body responses as your reply!" he commanded.

"Y-yes your majesty!" he finally yelled.

"Good… now, do you love my son, Sora?" Leon asked, his eyes still dangerously narrowed.

It was then that Riku began to glare at him as well, "Of course I do! I'd give him my life! My everything!"

"Really now?"

"Yes!" Riku exclaimed, small tears filling the corners of his eyes now.

"Very well." And just like that, Leon dropped him, and Riku fell to the ground with a yelp. Still glaring at him, Leon kneeled down until they were face to face again, his hand instantly reaching out to grip the roots of the boy's silver hair, "I expect you to do everything, and I mean _everything_ you can to ensure that my son is happy. You _will_ take full responsibility for what you've done and I expect you to visit regularly because that is my grandchild that is growing inside of _my_ son. If I ever hear that he is crying or in pain because of you, I'll kill you myself." He hissed before getting up and leaving the room with a slam of the door.

Sora stopped his crying, feeling absolutely shocked by what had just transpired. Riku too was breathing hard before promptly passing out on the floor, to which Axel quickly tried to snap his friend out of. Roxas was trembling but he maneuvered his way towards his twin and threw strong arms around him. The nightmare was over, he didn't have to hide his secret now and he was relieved. Not only that but now he could finally be with Riku.

-x-x-x-x-

Cloud hadn't been phased by the scene at all but scolded Sora afterwards for keeping such a secret from him and Leon for as long as he did but also for his lack of properly taking care of himself—especially with the way he had been eating as of late. Eventually he and Nanaki left the room after lecturing everyone, leaving the boys to collect themselves and think about his words.

Though Roxas wanted to stay with his twin, the brunet seemed quite comfortable with just Riku, so he and Axel took their leave as well. This, he thought was probably a good idea since he and the redhead still needed to talk.

Unfortunately, life just loved making him miserable because low and behold the devil's daughter was stomping her way towards them and dragging with her a frightened Kairi by the arm.

"Kairi!" Axel yelled and was running the short distance to save his younger sister from the blond girl's clutches. Roxas too was following close behind, his eyes glaring down at the disheveled noble woman.

"There you are _darling_!" Larxene practically spat.

"Axel, I'm so sorry!" Kairi cried before the blond woman shoved her to the side. This only made Axel angry and he towered right in front of the Morgan girl as Roxas collected Axel's teary eyed sister.

"Kairi, are you okay?" Roxas asked, checking her arm quickly, he could already see a bruise forming on her pale skin.

"Y-yes, I tried to keep that devil from finding Axel but she threatened me and now—I'm just…"

"No, no… shh, it's okay." The prince said, smiling softly at her.

"Axel! My darling!" Larxene mocked, "So nice to see you again. I'm sure you heard what happened to me earlier?" she glared.

"Lady Larxene…" he replied, "Yes I did, not only that but I saw. It truly was quite a show I must say, you had everyone's undivided attention, _my dear_…"

"Oh how clever of you! Trying to sweet talk me, but to hell with you! I know it was your little friend here who humiliated me!" she shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Roxas who merely rolled his eyes, "Don't think that I don't know, precious!" she glared at him now, which the blond prince promptly returned.

"My apologizes, I didn't see you. I was aiming for the hag that was crackling wildly with drunken laughter in my castle ballroom. Really, the woman was an annoyance that had to be _disposed_ of, my mistake that I got you instead." Roxas smirked this time and Larxene twirled around at him with an even poisonous glare than before.

"You must think you're clever too, huh? Well boy I'll see to it that you—"

"Tell me! What will you do, my Lady!" Roxas' voice rose mockingly now but the sound of his anger was evident nonetheless. Though he was shorter than the woman his temper was far more monstrous, something he had inherited from his fathers.

"Wha—how dare you! I am a lady of Radiant Garden's royal court! You have no right to—"

"Oh! I have no right to what? Disrespect you!" he began to laugh, "Did you forget? This is my home, my castle! For you to barge your way in here, threatening my friends and entering this private part of the castle, I should have you thrown out! This here is not your territory anymore, it's mine! You're playing by my rules now, and if you think you can just waltz right in here all willy nilly like you own the place, you've got another thing coming!" He hissed, pushing his face right up to hers.

It was as if the woman had lost her voice and she took several steps back, too shocked to try and say a word now that the prince had made her a target of his wrath.

"Now, I suggest you leave before I get really angry…" Roxas said, his voice low and threatening.

Biting her lip, Larxene glared at him but nodded quickly before stomping out. Reaching the end of the hallway though, she stopped and glowered at the three, "When you come back home Axel, you had better apologize or so help me I'll make your marriage with me a living hell." She spat.

Once she was gone and out of sight, Roxas felt his heart begin to crack now, the vile woman's words sinking in. Marriage? Then that would mean that she and Axel were engaged. He had never heard once about this, not a single word. Quickly turning towards the redhead next to him, he could see the uneasiness in his face begin to grow.

Kairi was still at a loss, shocked by Roxas' ruthless demeanor but seeing the sudden change in the blond prince she excused herself to her room as swiftly as she could, afraid to watch the upcoming argument that was sure to spur between him and her brother. She knew how infatuated the two of them were with each other, they made it so obvious but now that Larxene had revealed herself as Axel's fiancée, she didn't know what to expect from Roxas now after having witnessed that explosive temper of his.

It was just the two of them now, alone in the hallway. Tensions were high, much higher than they were earlier and Axel didn't know what to do. He hadn't counted on Larxene confronting him and right in front of Roxas of all people. Now the cat was out of the bag and looking down at the said blond, he could tell that this was not going to end well.

"When were you planning on telling me that you were engaged?" There it was, he asked it, "Were you even considering on telling me at all?"

"Roxas please I—"

"No! Just tell me!" The blond shouted, his voice almost begging him now.

Axel breathed deeply and rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "I wasn't planning on telling you… the whole reason why I'm here in Nibelheim with my family was to escape from Larxene. I wanted to be as far away from her as possible before our wedding this coming fall…"

The blonde's breathing was becoming ragged now and he didn't know how much more he'd be able to take before he fell apart. So soon? This meant that the moment Axel left Nibelheim at the end of summer, a union with that woman was waiting for him, "And what about me? In the garden y-you, you kissed me… You took my first kiss… was it all just a game to you?"

"No! No it wasn't! Listen to me, please Roxas!" Axel said as he quickly reached forward and hugged the boy close, "Even though I'm engaged to her, I don't love her! I never will! I don't even want to be married to her!"

Roxas didn't make a move to return the embrace, instead he just stood there frozen, the tears now filling his oceanic blue eyes, "But you never told me about her!"

"Because I never expected to find myself here falling in love with you Roxas!" Axel shouted his reply. Looking down, he watched painfully as tears began streaking down the blonde's beautiful face, "Roxas please try to understand, I've done everything I could to break our engagement, really I've tried but there is nothing I can do to stop it from proceeding. I have been threatened by the royal court, if I don't follow through with the wedding, some of my father's supporters will abandon him and I can't let that happen. Even though Larxene will become my wife, she can never have this, my heart." Grabbing the boy's shaking hand, Axel pressed it up against his chest, "It will never belong to her because it's already yours, Roxas."

The young prince's cries could only grow worse and he hid his face from the other boy's sad green eyes, "No! I won't become your secret!" Roxas finally yelled, "How could you deceive me all this time and tell me that you love me? I refuse to be your mistress away from that devil woman!" he continued to yell before finally pushing the taller prince away from him as he ran towards the sanctuary of his room.

There Axel stood, alone as Roxas slammed the door and locked him out. From his place in the hallway he could hear the other boy's cries being muffled, but he knew he was crying hysterically nonetheless. Riku slowly opened the door of Sora's room, his eyes slightly narrowed at the redhead. The silverette had heard everything and he wasn't happy with him at all. Not just him, but Axel was quite sure that Sora was well aware of what had just happened too, maybe even Kairi. Ashamed and tired, he ignored his best friend's glare and trudge back towards the sanctity of his own bedroom to try and sleep.

Sadly, there was hardly any sleep, not a single moment of soothing rest for anyone in the west wing, the residents all bothered by the problems that had transpired and revealed themselves through the night.

* * *

**A/N: **About 12,000 words and 24 pages for this chapter alone and it took me two days to write… but I gotta keep cranking it out! I can do this! (Well I hope I can). And we're almost done! I promise! Bleh there was a lot of drama going on in here and it just gets better in the next chapter, you'll see. I feel kind of bad for Roxas and Axel at the moment but they will find their happy ending!

I don't know how you guys feel about the time skip in here but I felt it was needed since this is a short story and I can only write so much T-T I hope that the humor I wrote in was a good balance and just something fun for you guys to read (: Anyways I will update soon! Feedback would be lovely please :3


	3. Because I Choose to Love You

**Open Your Heart**

**Chapter 3: Because I Choose to Love You**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters in this story they belong respectfully to Square Enix

**Warning:** Themes of shounen-ai/yaoi/homosexual relationships, impregnation, etc, you know all that good stuff. If it bothers you then you have the option of leaving.

**Summary:** The males of the Strife bloodline are gifted with the ability to reproduce and have children of their own like women. Take Prince Squall Leonhart from Balamb and Prince Cloud Strife from Nibelheim and you have the twins Sora and Roxas. Forward sixteen years and now the parents are trying to get the idea of marriage into their boys mind, but Nibelheim's rebellious prince, Roxas Strife Leonhart refuses to be pushed into a marriage he doesn't want. In comes Prince Axel with his younger sister Princess Kairi from Radiant Garden and Roxas has just about had it for the summer.

**Pairings:** Axel x Roxas, Riku x Sora, Leon x Cloud

**Music:** "It's Cold" by Song Ji Eun & "Sound the Bugle" by Byran Adams & "I Choose to Love You" by Hyorin

**A/N: **Chapter three… my fingers, both my hands, they just ache from constantly typing. I hope you guys know how much I care for putting myself in this pain T-T the… la, la, la lemon~ has been edited out and is available on my tumblr. You can find the link on my profile page if you are interested in reading the naughty scene and I have to warn you this is my first published lemon ever so please be nice and well… no children under the age of 18 should read it because it'll ruin them? Oh who am I kidding you kiddies will probably go off and read it anyways… =w=;

I've also decided to break this chapter up to go ahead and write a forth chapter to this which will be a sweet epilogue so be prepared for that :3 I would also like to thank the readers so far who have favorite, followed and reviewed this story, you have no idea how much that means to me. Though this story has very little attention, I'm grateful for what I've been able to get and it encourages me not to give up (:

**& Have a HAPPY AKUROKU DAY EVERYONE!**

Well anyways, here you go!

-x-x-x-x-

Just as Axel had predicted, Riku, Sora and even his own sister Kairi were giving him the cold shoulder. Despite all of the drama that had ensured on the night of the twin's seventeenth birthday, the prank on Larxene that Sora and Roxas played did not go unpunished. The very next day, Leon yelled at his boys for what seemed like hours, oblivious to Roxas' tear swollen eyes and Sora's relentless attention to his younger twin as he held him close throughout all of the shouting. If it hadn't been for Cloud intervening by punching his ignorant husband square in the jaw, the boys would have been sent off doing god knows what kind of punishment Leon had in mind.

For the last two weeks now, Axel was left to his own devices, ignored by his friends and sister. Roxas especially, wouldn't spare a single glance his way and what probably made it worse for the redhead was that he could not get anywhere near the blond prince no matter what he did. The wolf-like beast, Nanaki had made it his job of being Roxas' twenty-four hour a day body guard. Wherever the prince went, day or night Nanaki was always there. During meal times and in his bedroom, the bloody animal was there and whenever Axel tried to approach or talk to the boy, Nanaki would growl threateningly at him, roar and even went so far as to chase him on several occasions. It was truly a frustrating ordeal for the red haired prince. Hell, even the boy's mare Destiny tried to take a bite out of him in the stables more times than usual and that was saying something.

Sora and Riku on the other hand were fairing much better than Axel and Roxas were in their department. Leon still glared at the silver haired noble every chance he got but despite that, the prince and he were as happy as can be. Riku had even gone so far as to finally propose to Sora during an evening stroll in the garden after dinner one day, which the brunet tearfully accepted. Again the proud lion of a king from Balamb was on Riku's heels in seconds after Sora began showing off the silver band around his ring finger to everyone. Only this time, Leon made doubly clear to Riku that he would not be pleased with the silverette should he ever make his son unhappy in any way, shape or form—this resulted in the formation of a nice black eye on the young noble's pretty face.

In honor of their engagement, another party was to be thrown during the beginning of August on the forth—that was now only two days away. Roxas could only hope that he wouldn't have to see that confounded witch Larxene Morgan again but life screwed him over and he found her name on the guest list as he stared at the god forsaken piece of paper on Cloud's desk.

Just as he was about to rip the damn thing to pieces, the sound of the door to the room opened, and Cloud walked in, his brow arched as he stared at his youngest son. Nanaki peered up from his place on the rug, but seeing that it was only Cloud, he laid back down and yawned.

Quickly, Roxas dropped the guest list and tried to make his exist but his father was quicker and easily caught the young prince by the arm.

"Alright, no more running Roxas. We're going to sit down and have a heart to heart chat." Cloud said. Tightening his grip a little, he led them over towards the couch on the other side of the room.

Settling down first, the flaxen haired king patted the seat next to him which Roxas grudgingly took. Though very few people had ever witnessed it, Roxas was actually very close to Cloud despite his lack of interaction with his fair haired father. The moment he sat down next to Cloud, the boy threw himself at his waist and clung to him tightly. The older man just sighed contently, his fingers running gently through the spikes of golden hair as the prince began to crumble in his arms and cry. Roxas very rarely ever cried to him, but whenever he did, Cloud always felt the greatest need to comfort his son any way he could.

"Tell me, what's bothering you? Is it Axel? You two haven't been talking for quite some time now, and I've seen Nanaki chase him away from you once already."

Roxas could only nod, feeling his chest bounce as he tried to contain the gasps. That was one of the things that he loved about his father—even though all he ever really did was stand on the sidelines, he was perceptive, he knew what was going on and he knew when to jump into action at just the right time.

"Shhh…" Cloud began to coo, leaning over to tuck the prince's head under his chin.

"T-that witch…" Roxas sniffled.

" What witch?"

"L-larxene Morgan…"

"And what about her?" The king asked.

"Axel's engaged to her and he—he never told me!" Roxas cried, and nuzzled himself even closer to his father.

"Ah, so that's what all the fuss is about." Cloud mused.

"It isn't funny dad!" Roxas snapped, his eyes glaring as tears began to stream down his face.

"I know it isn't, forgive me." Cloud said as he leaned down to kiss the boy's forehead and wipe away a few tears off from his cheeks.

"Because of what Sora and I did… she hurt Kairi in order to find Axel. I was there and I got angry and disrespected her, then she said something along the lines of making her marriage with Axel a living hell for him… and that's when I figured it all out…"

"But there's more to it, I'm sure. Keep going." Cloud insisted, his arms holding the boy tightly again.

"Axel, he wasn't planning on telling me about Larxene… but before all of that—" he began to shake, "Axel kissed me… when we ran away from the ballroom after father started yelling, we went to the garden where he told me I looked beautiful and as a birthday present he kissed me… he gave me my first kiss…" he said, now touching his lips lightly.

"K-kiss?" Cloud had to hold himself back from choking on his own saliva, "Go on son, you can tell me." He urged, _'That way I'll have an excuse to slice him in half with my sword before I leave his body to rot in the woods._' He thought.

"I just—he kissed me and I thought that maybe it meant he would be with me but after learning about Larxene and then Axel admitting that he had no intentions of telling me about her, he confessed that he was in love with me and that even though he was marrying that devil of a woman his heart belonged only to me…" Roxas spat, his fingers gripping the front of his father's shirt even tighter.

"Ahh… I see, the good old, 'I love you but can't be with you but you will always have my heart' saying. Classic rejection…" Cloud replied but the tone of his voice was trembling out of anger now.

"I know… which is why I yelled at him…" Slowly Roxas looked up at the blond haired king, his blue eyes filling to the brim with fresh tears again, "I don't want his heart if I can't be with him. I know th—that it's selfish of me, but I can't think of him loving me when I know he is with that monster of a woman! I can't sleep, knowing that it won't be me he'll return home to or be with for the rest of his life!"

"Oh Roxas…" The king frowned, kissing his son's forehead again and again. He knew this feeling all too well and now his youngest son was suffering the same grief he had to live through years ago.

Leon and Cloud went through the same exact experience and he admitted that though Rinoa Heartilly was a very nice girl and would be the perfect wife, the perfect queen for Balamb, she was not him and she was not fit to marry a man like Leon. What's more, he didn't like knowing that Leon would betray her for him and at the same time know that despite Leon's love for him, the brunet would have always returned to her instead of staying with him.

"You know the story between your father and I, right my son?"

Roxas sniffled some before nodding his head, "Yeah, you two disobeyed Balamb and Nibelheim's court and had Sora and I."

This, Cloud laughed, "Okay then! That's merely half of it but alright."

"Is there something you're not telling me dad?"

"Yes and no," The king chuckled, "Roxas, I know exactly what you're going through. Your father and I did defy our courts to have you and your brother, that much is true but did you know that Leon was engaged at the time? The only difference is your father had the guts to tell me that he was being forced into an arranged marriage and didn't hide it, unlike some people…"Cloud grumbled, obviously referring to Axel.

"He was? To who!" Roxas asked quickly and rubbed his eyes of the remaining moisture still there.

"His ex-fiancée was Rinoa Heartilly, the daughter of Balamb's military commander Fury Caraway and noble woman Julia Heartilly. Honestly she was a very nice girl, but she didn't love your father the way I did and because she couldn't fulfill that, I didn't approve of their engagement. Your father was an oaf back then, still is now and he tried time and time again to call the wedding off but Laguna and Raine, your grandparents did not relent."

"So, what did he do? Well I mean he obviously didn't marry Rinoa since he's here today married to you, so what did he do to get out of marrying her?" Roxas was insisting now, nearly jumping out of his father's arms as he waited impatiently for the man to answer.

"Calm down, jeez… you're just as edgy as your father sometimes… but anyways," Cloud yawned and shook his head, "Leon just did what Leon does best."

"And what's that?"

"He got depressed and sulked in his room."

"That's it?..."

"Yup!"

"No way! That can't be it! I mean father always—wait… you!" Roxas suddenly exclaimed, "You're the one that got him out of the engagement!"

Cloud began to smirk and nodded his head triumphantly, "Indeed, it was me."

"How did you do it dad?"

"Simple, Leon and I conceived you and your brother a month before he was supposed to be married."

Roxas' jaw fell open, and he blinked several time, still trying to cement what Cloud had just said, "Father got you pregnant? With Sora and I?"

"Yes, he did." Cloud smiled softly, "Roxas, I was not about to let your father go through with a marriage he didn't want and nor was I going to sit around and do nothing. I wasn't about to torture myself either by watching him be with someone other than me so I came up with the plan and let me tell you I was very, very determined to make it work."

Roxas blushed at his father's statement and nodded his head in reply. There had been a few times where he had caught both his fathers in the act and it was a very uncomfortable thing to think about, so imagining Cloud's desperation for Leon to impregnate him—well let's just say Roxas was glowing brighter than a tomato now.

"Your grandparents wanted heirs, so after I announced my pregnancy with you and Sora—it was messy I'll admit but the engagement between your father and Rinoa was broken nonetheless and I was expected to give Balamb's prince a child. The gossip wasn't great but we enjoyed our lives together, and we didn't care what other people said because all that mattered was knowing you and Sora were growing inside of me and that you two were the reason we were so happy." The king nuzzled his face into the boy's hair, "I'm not saying that you should do what I did Roxas, but it might be something to consider if you really do love Axel. I won't stop you if you do choose to follow the same path I did, but just know that whatever discussion you make, I will always love you."

The young prince couldn't help the tears that were falling again, and he smiled as Cloud cupped both his cheeks and held his face gently, "Roxas, I never regretted my decision, every moment I felt you and your brother growing inside of me, I knew that as long as I had you and Sora, it was enough for me—even if your father and I didn't end up together in the end."

Closing his eyes, the prince wrapped his arms around the king's neck, hugging him tightly as Cloud returned the embrace, "Thank you dad, it means a lot that you've told me this… and also, I love you too…" Roxas whimpered against the crook of his neck.

-x-x-x-x-

Both father and son felt lighter now, Roxas especially feeling much better after having experienced about two weeks of a broken heart. The young prince had a lot on his mind and when he passed Axel in the hallway, he wondered if the redhead would give in and do what Leon did—that is if the blond did make the same discussion as Cloud.

He stayed up all night thinking about what the flaxen haired king had done to keep his lover and suddenly the thought of bearing Axel's children seemed more and more appealing to him. The redhead probably wouldn't go through with the marriage to Larxene if he got pregnant, sure it might be messy within their courts but his country would have an heir just like they wanted—that would be good enough wouldn't it? It had to be.

Pretty soon, the day of Sora and Riku's engagement party came, and most if not all of the same guests from the twin's seventeenth birthday were back at the Strife castle once more in addition to some of Riku's friends from Radiant Garden. Even Larxene Morgan had the guts to show her pretty little face in the ballroom again but since Roxas and Axel still weren't on speaking terms and Riku, Sora and Kairi were still ignoring the redhead, the blond witch hung herself on the prince's arm and flaunted him off to everyone as her husband to be.

Standing there by the food table with his arms crossed, Roxas shot the dirty Morgan noble woman a sour look, his eyes burning holes into the back of her head. Nanaki was there beside him, though he wasn't usually allowed inside during the parties this was a special occasion and no one dared to question why the beast was there unless they risked getting snapped at by the blond haired prince. Several guests had already commented on the 'mongrel' in the room, but Roxas was swift to snarl and throw an insult right back at them which was promptly followed by an intense growl from Nanaki himself.

From his side of the ballroom, Cloud could see how very uncomfortable Roxas felt having to witness Larxene's physical attachments to Axel and philandering. The girl was getting drunk now and her sultry attitude was becoming more and more evident by the minute. Though he wanted to help, the king couldn't spoon feed his son any more than he already had—it was time for the prince to start taking matters into his own hands now and he could only hope that Roxas would be able to suck it up and fight for what he wanted in the end or at least acquire a better understanding of things.

The longer Roxas stood there watching the engaged couple, the angrier he began to feel. Axel wasn't doing anything to push that horrible witch of a woman away! And it was extremely off putting for the young prince to have to sit back and watch it all unfold before his very eyes! It just made him feel sick to his stomach! What was worse was that Larxene was drunk, drunker than at his own birthday too! And her laugh was—eh, horrid and loud. How could anyone stand to be in her presence or even have the ability to make coherent conversation with her?

"Urgh! Nanaki I can't stand this!"

"You mean watching Lady Larxene throw herself up and down Axel's body like some cheap whore?" The beast asked, his ears perked and tail flicking.

"Yes! You know just the right things to say, you know that?" Roxas tried to smile but his mind was far too clouded with thoughts of how to destroy the wicked she-wolf.

"I'm aware, but Roxas why won't you do something about it, if it makes you so angry to watch just march over there and take Axel away."

"I will, but now isn't the righhh—what the hell is she doing!" The prince was screaming now, his eyes bugging out as he witnessed the worst living nightmare he had ever experienced in his young life so far.

There standing in front of a small group of teens, obviously from Radiant Garden, Larxene had Axel pulled down to her in an open mouth kiss and Axel was reciprocating the action to Roxas' greatest horror. That just about made the blond prince snap and he blindly charged into action, his eyes burning with a rage unlike any other. Thankfully for him, Nanaki followed close behind, ready to aide his charge.

Weaving past the guests in his blind rage, he swiftly reached the snogging pair. Roxas then clenched his right fist hard and swung his balled up hand forward to punch the redhead with as much strength as he could possibly muster. He hit the older prince dead and center on the left side of his face, his knuckles hitting both the couple's noses in the process as they both went falling back with surprised yelps.

The people around them gasped; shocked that Nibelheim's young prince would even do such a thing! This was madness! Leon as well, bared witness to his son's act of violence towards the prince of Radiant Garden and was just about to run over there and pull his boy aside had it not been for Cloud's swift intervention. Before the brunet could even take another step in his son's direction, his blond lover punched him right in the jaw and he was thrown off balance and stunned by the force of impact.

"Cloud! What the hell!" Leon yelled, his blond haired partner staring blankly at him as he held his aching chin. Was everyone just throwing their fists for no reason now?

"Don't you dare go over there Leon. This is Roxas' fight, and he's going to do what he wants and that's to win Axel's heart, even if it means he has to play dirty along the way." The blond threatened his husband, cracking his knuckles for good measure so that his point was made clear.

Blinking, the brunet finally gave out an irritated groan and began rubbing his temples to battle the rising headache that was forming quickly, "Like father like son…"

"Exactly," Cloud smirked as he crossed his arms and looked on proudly.

When the couple hit the ground, Nanaki was on Larxene in no time and held her down with his front paws. The beast growled viciously at her and she screamed in her failed attempts to run away. Roxas on the other hand took a moment to stare down at the disheveled prince before going over to his side, only to reach down and yank him back up to his feet by the front of his dress shirt.

Axel had no idea what in the hell happened. He knew Larxene was drunk and that she had kissed him and in the heat of the moment, he kissed her back. The next thing he knew was that he'd been hit, hard, and good and now he was face to face with his attacker.

"R-roxas?" he groaned and the blond shook him a little violently.

The look in the younger boy's eyes was different than usual. There was no longer that innocent twinkle of life, now it was glowing brightly and it was filled with anger. Not a soul around them made a move to try and help the red haired prince—all too frightened to try and sway the wrath of Nibelheim's young prince and his beast of a companion.

'_He really is the son of the Lion of Balamb and the Great Wolf of Nibelheim._' Axel thought to himself, the blond prince's demeanor all too similar to that of his fathers.

Effortlessly, Roxas dragged Axel across the tile floor until he had the older boy's back pressed up against the wall, "Now we're gonna talk and you had better have a good explanation because I'm not playing!" he yelled.

Without waiting for a reply, Roxas grabbed Axel by the hand and tugged him out none too gently towards the balcony, ignoring all eyes and ears that watched and listened. The redhead though, went willingly and silently, his eyes closed for but a moment as he relished in the younger boy's wrath. Roxas really did care; if he hadn't then he would have never attacked and that was all that seemed to matter at that moment for Axel.

Now standing at the balcony, Roxas gave him a glare before shoving Axel right over edge. He landed hard on his back and groaned while Roxas followed suit and landed skillfully on his feet. Still silent though, the blond again was bringing him up to his feet and dragging Axel once more. From what the red haired prince could tell, they were headed towards the gardens like the first time before—only this time; Roxas seemed to have a purpose and was leading him much further in.

The pair went straight into the rosebush maze, winding through the paths left and right. Roxas knew exactly where he was going, as for Axel—he was apprehensive. Finally the two princes found themselves at the very center of the maze where a beautiful marble fountain depicting a pack of wolves stood there covered in vines. The thing was still working though, and it had Axel staring as he watched the spray of water fall from the gaping mouths of the stone figured animals.

It was just him and Roxas now, nobody else around them except the sound of the running water, the little whispers of the summer breeze and the full moon floating high in the darkened sky.

"So, why did you have to punch me, Roxy?" Axel finally asked, his hand reaching up to rub his hurting cheek. Just a light touch stung him, and he winced back. He was certain that there would be a bruise there tomorrow morning and it was probably not going to be a pretty sight either.

"Because that hag fiancée of yours was all over you like some prostitute, that's why!"

"Oh?" the redhead quirked an eyebrow before smirking widely at the younger boy, "Were you jealous, my prince?"

Roxas huffed, clearly getting angry now as Axel began to tip toe on his nerves, "You idiot! Of course I would be!" he shouted, hands shooting out to grab the taller boy by the shirt again and pull him down to his level.

"You didn't hesitate." Axel remarked, amazed that the boy hardly even tried to deny his raging jealousy.

"I'm too angry to think about trying to play your little games!" he snapped, "Why should I even deny how I feel? I refuse to pretend to be okay with this, all of it!"

"Oh really? If that's how you feel, what are you going to do about it?" Axel asked, his green eyes darkening and full of seriousness.

The young prince's heart began to race, the beating in his chest quickening fast in those few seconds between Axel and him. Roxas hadn't counted on any of this happening, everything just took him for a spin—it was all during his moment of pure anger and he went along with it. There was no real plan; everything he did up to this point was just based on impulse. Now faced with this question, what was he going to do now?

Slowly looking down at his feet, Roxas sighed heavily, the grip he had on the other's shirt loosening as he thought long and hard to himself. He was deciding his next move and suddenly his father's words began to replay in his head.

"_I'm not saying that you should do what I did Roxas, but it might be something to consider if you really do love Axel. I won't stop you if you do choose to follow the same path I did, but just know that whatever discussion you make, I will always love you." _

_The young prince couldn't help the tears that were falling again, and he smiled as Cloud cupped both his cheeks and held his face gently, "Roxas, I never regretted my decision, every moment I felt you and your brother growing inside of me, I knew that as long as I had you and Sora, it was enough for me—even if your father and I didn't end up together in the end." _

"Like father like son…" Roxas chuckled bitterly to himself.

Clicking his tongue, Axel rolled his eyes, having had just about enough with waiting for his reply, "I guess you have nothing and if that's the case then—"

"Oh shut up." Roxas interjected before finally standing up on his toes and kissing the taller boy's lips, hard.

Instantly it felt as though a fire had ignited between them and they were going at each other aggressively. Hands were roaming, clawing at each other to feel and in Roxas' case—he yanked the redhead closer by the roots of his hair, only to shove his tongue in the other's open mouth. It felt as though they were making up for the time they spent avoiding one another and all the frustration that had been accumulating until now was up in the air and there would be no stopping it no matter what.

Axel tugged and nipped at the younger prince's bottom lip. Moaning shyly, Roxas rolled his hips experimentally and was able to gain a sharp gasp from the taller male. Pulled away from his lips, Roxas eyed the redhead's neck hungrily and he leaned forward only to kiss his throat before licking his way up to the prince's chin. Axel shivered, he was quite certain that Roxas was a virgin but now it didn't seem that way anymore.

"M-my prince… Ahh—"Axel groaned, hips grinding back into the others.

"M-more, please," Roxas gasped, pressing himself as hard as he could against the redhead's body.

The younger boy had never been so aroused before in his life—not like this anyways. He could feel himself grow hot and hard with need and from the looks of things it seemed that the same could be said for Axel as well. Already the redhead was pitching a rather obvious tent in his trousers and from the sounds of his ragged panting he didn't want to stop their activities either.

"A-axel…" Roxas panted, his fingers crawling up to cup the man's face in his hands. Staring at the older prince with lust induced eyes; he felt his heart banging against his ribcage, nervous about what he had to say, what he needed to say. They were here, together at long last but he didn't want it to end. The very thought of having to part ways after tonight would be too much for him to take and he wasn't about to let this be a onetime thing—no not even that, he was not going to become Axel's dirty little secret, "I want you to make love to me and I want you to impregnate me."

Axel's eyes widened instantly, stunned beyond belief that the blond would even request such a thing from him. Somehow in the spur of the moment, Roxas pushed him hard enough until he fell flat onto his back, his dark green eyes dazed and still trying to make sense of what the young prince was asking for him to do. Lying there motion less on the maze floor, the blond prince settled him on the redhead's waist and straddled him tightly so that he could swirl his hips, moving himself all around, rubbing and grinding, all in order to fluster the older boy even more.

Biting his lower lip to contain his urgency to moan, Axel jerked forward from the sudden contact of Roxas' bottom rubbing up against his raging groin, "Oh great Odin, R-roxas you know what you're asking of me, don't you?"

"Yes, I know the consequences." He replied, panting heavily as he stared down at his fists that were clenching the older prince's front shirt.

"Then why do you want me to ruin you? Impregnate you? What could you possibly hope to achieve by asking me to do this?"

"B-because, I can't do it… I can't bear to go through my life knowing that every day, every second I'm missing you, loving you; you're with that devil woman. I don't just want your heart Axel, I want all of you…" Roxas began to cry.

"Roxas, you know that I can't—"

"No!" Roxas sniffled, his tears running fast now, "I'm not going to let you go through with a marriage you don't want and neither will I sit back and torture myself just to watch you marry Larxene and spend the rest of your life with her being unhappy... She will never love you the way I do Axel and you know that…"

"Roxas…" Axel whispered. He almost didn't want to reach out and touch the crying boy in fear of making it worse but he risked it anyways, sitting up to wrap his strong arms around the other's trembling body.

The blond was quick to nuzzle his cheek against the crook of his neck, his sad blue eyes slipping closed, "I've thought about this for only a few days but if I can give you an heir, it might just be enough to free you from marrying Larxene… I'm not some whore nor am I a commoner; I am Prince Roxas Strife Leonhart and as a male of the House of Strife I can bear children and I want more than anything to be the only person that carries your sons and daughters, Axel, because I love you and it'll tear me apart to have to watch you be with someone other than me..."

"You love me?" Axel asked and stroked his thumb against the blonde's damp cheek, his eyes watching the beautiful boy carefully.

"Idiot…" Roxas gasped, his tears falling one big tear drop at a time, "I've loved you all this time!" he collapsed forward, his fists now pounding against the redhead's chest.

The redhead chuckled softly, it was all the answer he needed in order to take the boys tear stained face into his hands and silence his cries with a gentle and firm kiss to his quivering lips. Roxas was slow to recuperate but he eventually calmed down long enough so that he could press his lips forward and move against the redhead's mouth to deepen the kiss. It wasn't aggressive or forceful; the kiss was chaste and innocent and held all the love that Axel could possibly show him.

Tentatively, Axel shifted his body, moving slowly until he was able to lift the younger boy up by his rump before rolling over so that he towered right on top of the blond. Roxas' hands were still clenching Axel's dress shirt, and he swallowed nervously now as he stared up at his lover. He looked positively handsome, and Roxas shivered happily when the older man began to kiss him along his throat and nip his sensitive skin.

Face hidden from view, Axel's hot breath tickled the blonde's heated skin, "Are you sure this is what you really want?" he asked, his voice strained and husky as he struggled to keep himself under control.

Wrapping his arms around the other's neck, Roxas arched his back, rolling his hips in the older prince's hardness just enough to receive a nice sharp gasp from him. It was like music to his ears, "Please, I beg of you, don't stop…" he whispered in his ear.

-x-x-x-x-

That night they had made love for the first time in the garden maze. The summer fireflies surrounded them during their afterglow and it was like magic to Axel, looking down at the flushed face of the beautiful blond haired and blue eyed prince that was finally, at long last his lover. They were slow to redress themselves, and were beyond disheveled looking but they didn't care and the couple trudged back to the castle, Axel playfully carrying Roxas' sore body on his back.

They took the secret passageway hidden in the castles stone wall so that they could avoid the party guests on their way back to Roxas' room. Axel was amazed by its complexity and even more so that Roxas was so well of a navigator through the dark tunnels, but then again this was his home so he should have known that the blond would be so well informed of every nook and cranny of the place.

By the time they made it safely to Roxas' bedroom, they were both exhausted but the blond was insistent about them taking a bath and so they did. Afterwards, when they were clean and dressed for bed, the young blond tugged the older boy into his room. Axel wasn't complaining though and he happily followed the younger prince right into his bed. Unfortunately he did not expect to be straddle by his waist and have his hands bound over his head by Roxas but nonetheless he smirked and the two of them were at it again in no time.

The next morning, Axel had woken up a few hours after the sun rose, having experienced the best sleep he had ever had before in his entire twenty years of life. The best part though, was waking up to the sight of a peaceful looking Roxas, who during the night cuddled close to his side and had one of his hands tucked right between the pillow and his cheek. It was absolutely adorable but it was sad to say that in this position, Axel had lost nearly all feeling in his hand and had to, with great reluctance pry his hand gently from the younger boy's tight grip.

The movement though had stirred the blond prince next to him and Axel instantly regretted it—that was until watched the boy's sparkling blue eyes open and he rubbed the lingering sleep away with a cute yawn.

"Good morning, my prince." Axel smiled softly, leaning forward he pressed a loving kiss to the other's forehead.

Whimpering quietly, Roxas closed his eyes and tucked his head back only to peck at the redhead's chin, "Good morning." He whispered.

"Are you feeling alright?" he asked, slightly worried that he might have handled the boy too rough last night during their activities.

"A little, my backside is sore though." He replied, his head lying back against his pillow.

"Well, it's to be expected. I mean we did make love twice already…"

"Yeah, I know and now that we're awake I want you to get inside me again."

"Excuse me?" Axel stared down, his cheeks reddening and his face blushing almost as brightly as his own red hair.

"You heard me, now get to it." Roxas' eyes narrowed up at him.

"But you just said you're sore!"

"I don't care." The blonde replied with a shrug.

"Do you hear what you're saying?" Axel continued to stare down at his lover with great disbelief. There was no way his ears were lying to him now because he was quite sure that this boy, this beautiful boy wanted him to pound his sore body into the mattress again after already having done the dirty deed twice in one night. Was he a glutton Axel had to wonder?

"I know what I said, and I'll say it again, get on top of me, put your length inside my body and move."

"R-Roxas! Uhh—, " The redhead's body began to shake until finally he pressed his face against the pillow and started to laugh, "Great Odin you are so blunt." He giggled.

"Axel, it's not funny! I'm serious!" he snapped, upset that the older male would even go so far as to make fun of him now.

"I-I'm sorry, it's just you're so cute when you get all worked up and mad." Axel panted, his face feeling refreshed and full of life, "I just love how straight forward you can be, it makes me happy to know that you are honest with what you want and that you're not hiding anything from me."

Pouting, Roxas scooted closer to Axel's warm body and nuzzled his cheek against the crook of his neck before leaning up to kiss his throat, "I told you last night that I'm not going to let you marry Larxene, though I may sound absurd to you, I'm determined to make this work… Sorry if it just came out that way…"

Axel smiled, pressing his face into the mess of blond hair, "I understand perfectly what you are trying to say, and you don't have to apologize. Your resolve and love for me is very flattering, how can I deny you?"

"Axel, I love you…" Roxas whispered against his neck, blue eyes peeking shyly up at him.

Grinning, Axel placed his hand against the blonde's cheek, leading his face up until they were staring nose to nose with each other, "And I love you too, Roxas."

With that said, the two closed the distance between them and they met each other's lips in a soft, passion filled kiss.

By the time the couple was finished, they were exhausted and twice as sore. Unfortunately they still had to hurry and clean themselves up for today since they were supposed to spend the rest of the afternoon with Leon and Ansem out hunting in the forest for wild game. Having already wasted their time basking in each other's wake, they were close to thirty minutes late for breakfast by the time they had arrived in the dining hall.

Leon sat at the head of the table, his face sour and tired as he glared at the both of them. Cloud on the other hand, threw a smirk in their direction, knowing full well that the pair had successfully made up. Everyone else just shrugged but it was only after, when the morning meal was relatively finished that the parents left, did Sora stab his plate in anger. In the process he accidentally split the china in two and he pointed his fork in Axel's direction, threatening him that if he ever hurt his baby brother again that he would personally see to the redhead's death being a painful and ridiculous demise.

At this point, Axel loudly concluded that the Strife men were not only beautiful by birth but they were also a frightening pack of wolves to be reckoned with. And now that a lion had joined the family, it was just one snarling untamable animal to the next. This Riku openly agreed with and the two nodded, trying to continue their discussion over the topic only to be kicked in the shins and punched in the arms by the sons of the lion and wolf themselves—and it only proved to make Axel's argument even more valid.

-x-x-x-x-

The end of August was nearing, meaning that in just a few days, Radiant Garden's royal family would be returning home soon. Ansem's health had improved greatly throughout the duration of their stay. His orange eyes were glowing now, the frequent dark bags under his pupils which had decorated his face for years were all but gone and he was even healthy enough to ride a horse again. Kairi, though slightly upset about Sora's pregnancy since she really did grow to like him was just as happy herself, being able to spend time with both him and Riku. Axel and Roxas were mostly back to their usual selves, the only difference was the blonde's persistence to get Axel going and getting him pregnant before his wedding with Larxene the following month. Time was wasting, and Roxas practically jumped Axel whenever he could. Already they were at it about once a day, maybe even twice if he was lucky. But all in all, he was getting desperate and so was Axel.

Since the first week of August after he and Axel first made love, Roxas hadn't so much as felt a single change in his body. He waited as patiently as he could but time wasn't on their side. He had asked Sora what it felt like, how he knew he was pregnant and the brunet explained that he was increasingly fatigued for a while and then he reminded his brother about the week he had been especially picky with his food. It wasn't until the nausea and frequent need to go to the bathroom hit him that the thought of him being pregnant finally crossed his mind.

Sora had to question why Roxas was asking him of this, and Roxas having always been so close to his twin confessed the plan he had proposed with Axel. He didn't want to hide it, unlike Sora who kept his relationship with Riku and his pregnancy with the silver haired noble a secret for so long from him. So being the overly trusting brother he was towards his twin, he felt the need to step up and show that he trusted Sora with this information and that in return the brunet would know that he too shouldn't worried about opening up to him either.

His twin was thoroughly surprised but nonetheless wished him a great deal of luck. Though still irked by Axel, Sora knew how much the redhead meant to Roxas for the relationship between them was quite the same to what he shared with Riku.

Before Roxas left his twin to search for the red haired prince, Sora reminded the blond that everyone's body responded differently and though he wasn't showing the apparent signs just yet, there was a high possibly that he could already be carrying a child inside of him from how much physical activity he and Axel seemed to be engaged in recently. This of course left the blond red faced and speechless but he accepted his twin's advice nonetheless and could only hope there was some truth to it.

Now here he was in his bed, exhausted, sweaty and naked next to an equally fatigued redhead. Curling up into the other's side, Axel winded an arm around the smaller body next to him and pressed his heated skin against his as close as he could. Tonight was their last night together, for in the morning he and his family were to be traveling back home to Radiant Garden.

This whole week had been nothing but depressing for his blond haired partner and Axel wasn't fairing as better either. All they had done was spend as much time as they could together, usually in silence cuddling in the gardens, in bed—wherever they could not be seen. They didn't even have the energy to go riding but sometimes ventured into the stables to give their horses some company. Destiny was finally warming up to Ember, but her spunky attitude was still golden and every now and again she would nip the ash colored stallion, though this time he didn't seem to mind and allowed her to do as she pleased. Her relationship with Axel on the other hand, well that was a different story for she still wasn't comfortable being near him. Only a pat or two on her neck was fine, but more than that and she'd be trying to attack him.

Still, Roxas' distress was saddening for him to watch and he was having a hard time keeping the blond prince's spirits up. But, who could blame him? Especially now since Axel would be leaving him in just hours and they had yet to see any signs confirming the success of their hard labors.

"I can't believe this…" Roxas whimpered sadly.

"We've given it all we've got and we've waited for as long as we could… Maybe we just weren't meant to conceive." He replied, his fingers caressing gently across the blonde's warm back.

"What?" he suddenly said. Rising from the mattress, he looked down at his redheaded partner and stared at him with big eyes, "How can you say that?"

"Roxas, we've been trying for weeks now and have been going at it nearly every day without fail. The signs that Sora told you, we haven't once seen them. Other than your gloomy attitude as of late, nothing has really changed."

"But everyone responds differently!—Y-you, you're already giving up aren't you?..." Roxas asked slowly, his lower lip trembling now with anticipation.

Axel looked away, unable to look at his lover in the eye, "Roxas, I leave tomorrow in the morning. The moment I arrive back at the palace in Radiant Garden I'm sure I'll be bombarded with plans and expectations for my wedding with Larxene in September… there's no hope for us left…"

"No—Axel!" the blond said shakily but he couldn't gather the words to attack him in reply, they were all lost and he felt like he was drowning now.

"Roxas, I will always love you and as I've said the first time, this," he pointed to his chest, "My heart will never belong to her because it already beats only for you."

Heavy tears slowly cascaded from Roxas' sad blue eyes and he pushed himself away from Axel only to turn his back and curl into himself, "And I've told you before, that I don't just want your heart, I want all of you…"

The red haired prince flinched from the words, and tried to reach out and touch Roxas but he shook his hand aside.

"Don't you dare send me an invitation to your wedding!" he shouted into his pillow, "I'll be damned if you torture me that way!" he croaked, unable to hold his sobs back anymore.

Axel's heart clenched tightly at the broken sight of his lover but he could do nothing to repair his weeping form. The blond didn't even want to be touched no less, and Axel could no longer stay in his presence. Knowing that he could give him no comfort and knowing that he was the sole cause for the young prince's pain, he felt the need to get away if he couldn't do anything to better the situation.

With a heavy heart, Axel climbed out of bed, his legs carrying him towards the center of the room where their clothes laid in a heaping mess. Slowly but surely, the redhead was able to get himself dressed in silence. Not once did he glance back at his lover, too afraid to break down in tears himself and so he left the blond prince behind, crying tearfully in his room.

Closing the bedroom door behind him, Axel sighed heavily only to press his back onto the wooden surface for a moment before heading back to his own room. Finally in the sanctity of his respective bedroom, he was surprised to find his sister, Kairi waiting for him on his bed, her violet colored blue eyes staring sadly at him as she frowned.

"Oh Shiva, not you too…" he mumbled.

"Axel, are you really going to leave him behind? Broken and dead to the world?"

"Kairi, you know that I can't—"

"You listen!" she suddenly cried, and that got Axel's green eyes widening but he conceded and stood there with a firm resolve.

"Sora told me, that for a long time all Roxas ever had, ever depended on was him but when Riku came into the picture things changed. Sure they have friends in the town below, but the gap between their statuses is hard—you know that." She said, "With Riku around there was a distance between Sora and Roxas, and I think you know how he felt about it. With us being here all summer, Roxas came to accept you and he gave you a place in his heart. You are important to Roxas just like how Riku is to Sora, Axel. He isn't some manipulative wench that is out for the crown and our power like Larxene—he is a truly beautiful and honest person… and he loves you, with all of his heart… but now you've broken him… who will he have now after we leave? Think about it."

With that said, Kairi left the room without another word, leaving her brother to contemplate on what she said.

-x-x-x-x-

Axel bit his lower lip, last night had been awful, probably just as worse as on the day of the twin's seventeenth birthday and his younger sister just had to add to it with her little speech too. His family's belongings were packed and ready for them in the carriage outside and everyone had just finished up breakfast together. He had been hoping to talk to Roxas this morning but the young prince didn't bother showing himself in the dining hall. A worried Cloud and servant had gone up to check on him, taking with them something for him to eat and when they returned all the blond haired king said was that he was just nursing a headache and was too tired and ill to see everyone off.

The redhead was increasingly nervous as he stood in front of Roxas' door, he feared for the worst now but he had to at least tell him goodbye. Knocking twice, he didn't get a response at first but once he heard a fatigued groan on the other side he took a breath and proceeded forward.

"Rox—AS!" Axel screeched, his back hitting the stone floor rather violently as Nanaki towered over him, his large paws pinning him down and teeth bore viciously at him.

"Get out." He growled, his eyes dark and narrowed. Clearly he was aware of what had happened and he wasn't please.

"I-I just want to talk to Roxas…" Axel managed to say but it didn't look like Nanaki was about to grant him his request as his paw pressed against him even harder.

"He had been crying all night! What can you say that will make him feel any better? Because in the end, you'll still be leaving him!" Nanaki snarled.

He wanted to say that it wasn't true, he wanted to tell Roxas one last time that he loved him and that he always will but the words were stuck and he was here, lying trapped beneath a powerful and threatening creature who cared about the same boy he loved. Actions spoke louder than words, but he was unable to fulfill and make true their plan, now, all he really had were his words and they just weren't enough.

"He was finally able to sleep just a few hours ago when I came in, and I don't want to see him crying again because of you. Now leave or I'll make you."

"F-fine, just promise you'll tell him that I love him." He said, his breathing slightly labored as he stared up at the red haired beast.

"I will, now leave; your family is waiting for you anyways."

Moving himself off of the prince, Nanaki stepped back, his eyes watching him carefully as he got up quietly and dusted himself off. He looked over towards the bed where his blond haired prince laid nestled under the thin sheets, his small frame curled up tightly into himself. Smiling sadly, he looked back down at Nanaki who gave him another warning growl before finally, he willed himself to exit out of the room.

-x-x-x-x-

Axel sat silently on Ember's saddle, his once bright green eyes hollow and distant—deprived of the fiery glow of life as his family and their guards exited the Strife's castle grounds. In the distance, he could hear Roxas' horse, Destiny whinny loudly from her stall in the background.

When Axel had gone into the stables to retrieve Ember, the mare went hysterical since Roxas wasn't in sight and having to watch her new friend leave all of sudden was just too much. His stallion's reaction was no better and he had pulled back on his reigns until he managed to free himself from Axel's grip only to trot himself over towards the whining mare. Axel allowed them some time to bid each other their farewells but it only made him sadder because he was unable to give Roxas a proper goodbye himself.

On the path heading to the town below, every now and again he would glance over his shoulder towards the direction of the castle. This didn't go unnoticed to his sister, who disobeyed again, and had rested her head against the carriage door's window sill, only to frown at him. She didn't want this for Axel or Roxas, if anything she wanted her brother to turn around and stay in Nibelheim with his lover. This entire summer she had never seen him so happy before, and this place seemed perfect for him—much better than having to face an ill-marriage with a witch like Larxene who was bound to turn their kingdom upside down and inside out.

In the distance, back at the Strife's castle, Roxas stood on his balcony, his body tired and aching as he watched with tear swollen eyes, the man he loved dearly go farther and farther away from him. He had heard the commotion Axel and Nanaki caused but he didn't once get up to stop them.

He was broken, Axel had lost hope and now, his resolve was crumbling as well. Now they were nothing but a summer memory, lost and unattainable. He should have known this would happen, but that's what he got for wearing his heart on his sleeve. But Axel had taught him so much, changed him, made him trust more and believe that there was nothing in the world that could hold them back. The memories of riding blithely together in the forest with their horses, teaching Axel how to fish, telling each other stories and all—just being together, just the two of them they hit Roxas hard. In seconds he was falling to his knees, his hands clutching desperately to the railing as his cries filled the air.

Nanaki came to him instantly, and he wrapped his shaking arms around the beast's neck, holding onto him tightly. Nuzzling his tear streaked face into the other's soft red fur, he didn't anticipate a sudden lurch growing in his stomach and he shook even more whilst trying to contain it. Eventually it became too much for Roxas so with as much strength as he could, he shoved his companion away. Turning quickly, the blond vomited to the side, releasing what little contents were in his stomach out onto the balcony's floor.

Roxas shivered violently and he could feel another rise in movement quake within the confines of his stomach. He was nausea, very nausea indeed and it was crap. Falling to his hands and knees, he panted desperately for air.

"Na-nanaki…" he moaned helplessly. This could only mean one thing he thought, "Sora, a-and Riku—please, find them—. " He croaked before something sour traveled up his throat again.

And just like that, Nanaki sprinted out of the room but not before ramming his body against Cloud and Leon's door to inform them about what had transpired. In just a few short minutes, everyone was gathered in Roxas' room, Cloud having already carried his disheveled son back into bed. The young prince was running a fever and from the looks of things, it seemed that his and Axel's efforts hadn't gone to waste after all and had finally taken bloom.

"R-riku, please find Axel…" the blond begged to him. Not once had he ever requested anything from the silver haired noble before but now things were different and time was on the line.

Seeing the desperation in the other's pale face, Riku nodded quickly, his aqua blue eyes shining with determination. Beside him, he felt Sora cup his cheek only to bring him down for a kiss as he smiled at him and told him to run like the wind. Running out of the room swiftly and silently, it was all up to him now.

Nanaki too was padding close at his heels, "I will go with you, you might just need the backup."

"That would be greatly appreciated, Nanaki. I don't know how far they've gone within just an hour, but I do hope that they are still close."

"We just need to hurry, I'll go on ahead first." The beast replied.

"Right, you do that. King Ansem still isn't aware of what Axel and Roxas did so if you do manage to persuade Axel to return first, I'll deal with Ansem and bring everyone back. Now go!" Riku ordered.

Giving him a nod, Nanaki ran out of the castle in record time, Riku running just as recklessly and fast as he could to the stables himself. He eyed Destiny, and seeing her restless and finicky, he chose her as his horse, knowing full well that she would go to Ember and in turn bring him to Axel.

-x-x-x-x-

Nanaki's speed was nearly unmatched throughout all of Nibelheim. His feet were carrying him across the road like a bird as he flew passed everyone in his way. Roxas and Riku were counting on him, and he had to make it, he had to bring Axel back to Roxas no matter what. He followed the familiar scent of sweet spicy cinnamon and char, a scent that belonged only to Radiant Garden's prince. A little ways behind him, Riku rode on Destiny and the mare ran as wildly as ever before in her young life.

The two messengers were already speeding into town now and the people there that stood on the road made way for them as hastily as they could. They didn't know what the rush was about but from the looks of it, it was a very important matter and it'd be a bad idea to slow them down.

The royal family was just about to pass through the town gates and head on towards the road that would lead them home, but the sound of a loud and beastly roar unlike any other the group had ever heard caught their attention. The horses all scrambled nervously from the animalistic noise and everyone drew their swords.

Axel gasped softly, knowing full well that it wasn't just any wild animal, "Nanaki!" he yelled, and sure enough the wolf-like beast bounded straight towards him, Destiny following closely behind until she bolted right up to Ember and began to nip his ears.

"R-riku? Wha—What is it? Why are you here? Can't you see we're leaving?" he quickly asked.

"It's Roxas, he collapsed on his balcony, vomiting all over the place." Riku replied breathlessly.

"Roxas?"

"The first thing he asked for was you!" Nanaki interjected, rounding about behind Ember he gave the horse a nudge with his muzzle in the direction of the castle, "Don't just stand there, go!"

"B-But I—"

"Oh Great Yen Sid, you idiot! Go already!" Kairi finally screamed. Unbeknownst to everyone, the princess had slipped away from the carriage and was standing right behind her brother's horse. Giving the stallion a firm slap to the rump with the palm of her hand, Ember shot up in surprise and sped back towards the castle.

Destiny wanted to follow after him, but Riku pulled on her reigns and led her towards the king who sat in his carriage with a thin brow perked up.

"Your majesty, I believe we should return to the castle. There is a great _many_ things to explain."

"I have my suspensions, Lord Riku." He replied, one of his hands moving up to stroke his beard, "Well, you all heard the young man, it seems we must go back. I'll write a letter about our delay as soon as we get there."

-x-x-x-x-

Axel arrived fast and swift in front of the doors to the castle. The front gates had let him in without question once the guards saw Nanaki with him and the very instant they opened, Ember ran right in. Everyone seemed quite surprised to see him back so soon but they didn't say anything and instead went back to their normal duties.

The prince immediately jumped off his horse, leaving him to stand around in the courtyard as the redhead booked it inside towards the direction of his lover's bedroom. Not a moment was wasted, and soon he found himself throwing the door open to find his young blond prince lying in bed, sickly looking and pale. Sora laid beside him, his twins head tucked gently under his chin. Cloud and Leon were both at his bedside too, looking down at him but once Axel entered the room, panting heavily for a breath of fresh air, everyone looked up, including Roxas.

He looked so weak and helpless but despite his fatigued disposition, the blond sat up slowly with one of his hands reaching out towards Axel. Seeing this, Sora slowly released his hold around Roxas, crawling back off the bed in order to give the redhead a chance to take his place. In an instant Axel walked the short distance from the door to the bed, throwing himself on the mattress as he collected the blond into his arms and held him close.

The older prince whispered apology after apology to Roxas, his green eyes clouding over until finally he gave into the painful throbbing in his chest and cried.

**A/N: **A lot is going on in here… like a lot and I really hope you guys enjoyed it. The next chapter will be the last, I assure you and everyone will find their happy ending (except Larxene, maybe? lol). I think I'm going to take a little break as well because I have been writing this story nonstop for about three or four days and my hands hurt. Everything about this story has been finished in terms of outline, so I know what I'm going to be doing next (:

As you can already tell, the lemon is cut but like I said above in the first A/N, the entire chapter can be found on my tumblr.

I will also be going back and editing as many of my grammer mistakes as I can find in the last two chapters because I want this to be as clean as possible T-T

Until next time everyone! Thank you for reading and don't forget to leave me some goodies :3


	4. Nothing to Fear Anymore, When All I Need

**Open Your Heart**

**Chapter 4: Nothing to Fear Anymore, When All I Need is You**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters in this story they belong respectfully to Square Enix

**Warning:** Themes of shounen-ai/yaoi/homosexual relationships, impregnation, etc, you know all that good stuff. If it bothers you then you have the option of leaving.

**Summary:** The males of the Strife bloodline are gifted with the ability to reproduce and have children of their own like women. Take Prince Squall Leonhart from Balamb and Prince Cloud Strife from Nibelheim and you have the twins Sora and Roxas. Forward sixteen years and now the parents are trying to get the idea of marriage into their boys mind, but Nibelheim's rebellious prince, Roxas Strife Leonhart refuses to be pushed into a marriage he doesn't want. In comes Prince Axel with his younger sister Princess Kairi from Radiant Garden and Roxas has just about had it for the summer.

**Pairings:** Axel x Roxas, Riku x Sora, Leon x Cloud

**Music:** "Keeping Love Again" SHINee & "Brand New Map" by K

**A/N: **And now we've finally come to the end T-T This is actually the first time I've ever finished a chaptered fic before! Even though it's pretty short, I still feel very accomplished! :')

I apologize for the wait, but I promise it was worth it in the end you guys! I almost thought that I would have to hold this off until September because no one and I mean **no one** wanted to give me some personal time! But in the end I was able to finish this within the month all for you awesome readers!

I'm really happy with how much you readers have encouraged me with all your favorites, follows, and reviews on both here and tumblr, though it may not look like much in quantity, the quality outweighs it more than anything else to me. It just makes my heart swell with joy that it hurts x/x thank you so, so, so, so much for reading this story in the first place!

Now, onwards to the conclusion of our story!

-x-x-x-x-

During those long excruciating moments of crying and holding his lover tightly, Axel couldn't remember the last time he had ever wept so much in his life. Just falling apart like that in front of Roxas, in front of everyone made him feel vulnerable but the blond calmed him, telling him in a soft voice how happy he was that Axel came back and that everything would be alright in the end. Axel had sniffled, his tears still building up and spilling at the edge of his forest green eyes but the young prince surprised him by reaching up slowly to kiss away his newly formed tears and brush his damp cheeks with the loving touch of his fingertips. When he was done crying, they just laid there, content in holding each other until they had fallen asleep.

Now, Axel was awake, his thoughts turning as he waited patiently for his young prince to awaken. The redhead had been cradling Roxas in his arms for hours now and he never once let go, not even for a minute. All he did was hold his lover's tired, sleeping form against his body and occasionally, the redhead's hand would reach out to touch the blonde's flat stomach. The young prince wasn't showing yet, but they were sure he was now carrying a life inside of him, but not just any life—it was their child, his and Roxas'.

The idea of becoming a father now was nerve-wracking if not exciting, but still Axel had very little experience with children and that in itself was what made it scary. Then again, he wasn't the only one expecting now that he thought about it because Sora and Riku were with a child as well—maybe they could all try and figure out this parenting business together. Just thinking about the four of them scrambling around like headless chickens, trying to comfort a crying infant or let alone feed it—yeah, maybe it wouldn't be such a good idea after all. This left Axel to consider asking the experts themselves, Cloud, Leon and even his own father, Ansem.

It'd be hard to approach Roxas' fathers though since they weren't exactly on the best of terms with him, not even with Riku either. Hell, King Leon still held quite the vendetta against the silverette for even impregnating his oldest son and their current engagement made him even less happy than before. Now that Axel had followed suit and done the same with his youngest, he feared that the brunet haired king had moved him up the ladder on his hit list. The very thought just shook him to the core and he wished he hadn't even thought about it in the first place.

Still, despite the redhead's eyes mostly having been on Roxas the entire time when he first entered the room—the look of surprise and relief that adorned both the kings of Nibelheim's face was apparent, last he saw in those few seconds he had even laid eyes on them.

Axel had actually expected to be attacked by Leon, like when he had Riku in his clutches during the time Sora finally confessed about his pregnancy but the older brunet did nothing of the sort and instead just stood there, watching his actions carefully until he had stocked right up to Roxas. When that happened, Cloud slowly led his lover away to give him and Roxas some time alone the very moment the redhead's tears began to spill.

Sighing to himself, the older prince was uneasy, there was just so much going on in his head that it left him dizzy and frightened. There wasn't just Leon and Cloud to worry about, there was still the matter of telling his father, King Ansem, Radiant Garden's royal court and Nibelheim's, but also his engagement with Larxene—now that was really something he did _not _want to deal with. He could already just imagine the fury she'd be in, not only her but also her father, Vexen as well. He hated the lot of them, their pompous outlook on society and unbelievably high expectations for everything—it was madness. But now that he had Roxas and this unborn child, he could only hope that they were the key to his escape from the Morgan's wrath.

A scratching at the door caused Axel's brow to rise, gulping down his nerves, he gave a soft reply and hoped it wouldn't cause the boy in his arms to stir, "Come in."

The knob twisted a little loudly than necessary, but it all made sense once Axel saw the color of bright red fur enter the room and shut the door close behind them.

"Nanaki." He said, feeling somewhat startled by his appearance.

"Prince Axel, I see that Roxas is still sleeping." He replied, padding lightly across the floor over towards the redhead's side before sitting down right next to the mattress.

"Yeah, I forget that he's a deep sleeper sometimes but today was just exhausting, not only for me but for him too."

"It was most likely expected that he'd be so tired after having to deal with yesterday's spite with you and then collapsing as a result of his fatigue and at last discovering his pregnancy today."

"I guess you're right." Axel chuckled.

"You shouldn't guess your highness, you know I'm right." Nanaki replied before bringing his front paws up onto the mattress and jumping right up on there to fit himself next to the redhead and the edge of the bed.

Axel shuddered instantly, his body stiffening as the beast's face closed in on him, looking at him intensely with narrowed dark eyes with each creak the bed made under his weight.

"I'm still unhappy about what you put Roxas through emotionally, the boy is like my own cub, Axel." Nanaki stated, "Understand that I will not kill you, but only because Roxas will be unhappy and that he loves you dearly, so much so that he is willing to give up his childhood so soon in exchange to stop you from going through with your marriage to that Morgan noble by bearing your child. I hope you know how much he has sacrificed for you, so I'm telling you now, hurt him again and I swear to you that I will make you suffer beyond the end of your days."

The beast's words settled themselves deep within the confines his brain. He was right, Axel thought sadly. Roxas had given up so much for him and now that he really looked at it, there was hardly anything in the past that the redhead had done that could be considered of equal value to the blonde's sacrifice. All he had really been doing was taking and taking while all Roxas did was give and give. There may have been somewhat of an equal exchange in terms of the physical aspects of their relationship, but other than that there hadn't been much else and that upset Axel even more.

"I didn't think that—no… You're right, I shouldn't even be trying to make up excuses... he gave up so much for me, it's only right that I give my very being to him now, my body, heart and soul." he finally said, the defeat clearly evident in his voice. Hanging his head in shame, all he felt he could do was senselessly caress the tufts of soft blond hair on Roxas' head.

An incoherent string of mumbling vibrated against the redhead's body until he felt a brief nuzzle from the young prince on his chest. Looking down at him, Axel pushed his right elbow deep into the comforter, leaning more of his weight onto it so that he could scoot up into a better position and give the blond some room to sit up.

Roxas rubbed his tired blue eyes, his mouth gaping open to release a nice big yawn. It pained Axel to see dark gray circles dusted faintly beneath those beautiful eyes of his, indicating how much stress and exhaustion his lover had been feeling as of late.

Taking in his surroundings, Roxas' gaze soon rested upon the redhead beside him and he slowly smiled at him before reaching up to kiss the older prince on the cheek. The blond didn't stop from there though and he proceeded to grace Axel with more kisses until he had covered nearly every surface of his face.

"I heard everything, about what the two of you were saying." Roxas suddenly said, taking both Axel and Nanaki by surprise.

"Forgive me for being so forward about my opinions, your highness." Nanaki bowed his head, but Roxas wouldn't have it and quickly reached out to scratch the red haired beast behind the ear.

"You are entitled to your own opinions, Nanaki. I have no reasons to be angry with you for voicing out your frustrations with Axel, let alone threatening him on my behalf. If anything, I find it flattering." The blond beamed as he was able to coax a low grumble in the creature's throat, a signal that he was at the very least, relaxed now that Roxas' fingers moved on to tickle his chin.

"He's still right though, Roxas. You've given me far too much…" Axel interrupted dejectedly with a heavy sigh.

"Is that a problem?" Roxas asked, his blue eyes narrowing now.

The intense look on the blonde's face took Axel by surprise once again and he couldn't find the words to speak, so instead he nodded his head silently which prompt Nanaki to roll his eyes and shake his head with displeasure.

"And why is it a problem that I have expressed my love for you to the extent of which I have taken?" Roxas began to growl as he reached up to pinch Axel's thin cheeks and pull hard on his pale skin, "Would it have been better if I allowed my feelings for you to die and let you go off to marry that confounded woman back home who you despise with your very being?" he asked, clearly losing his patience now as he yanked a little harder on the redhead's cheek to emphasize this.

"Nice going, Prince Axel." Nanaki commented from his side of the bed, the attack on the redhead's cheek continuing on with full force now that Axel was thrown to the edge and close to tears.

"Nyah—Ahh! O-okay, okay! I give, I give! Please have mercy on me Roxas! I beg of you, let go before you rip the skin right off my face!"

Releasing his cheek, Roxas' eyes softened some, his expression no longer vexed but it melted quickly into that of sadness which Axel instantly regretted as he held his aching face.

"Roxas…"

"Are you really that bothered about me having to give up living what little time I have left of my childhood for our love?"

"Roxas, you've only just turned seventeen last month. I'm already well on my way to twenty by next spring and—"

"Shut up." Roxas interrupted, his lips turned into a frown, "It's a little too late to try and reason with me now don't you think? Especially now that I'm finally pregnant…" the blond said, his hands traveling down to hold his stomach.

"But—oh who am I kidding?" Axel shook his head, "Okay, you're right it's far too late now to say anything…"

"Exactly! Now, promise me that you'll never think of such a ludicrous thing like that ever again."

"Alright, I promise," Axel replied as he took the blonde's hand into his and kissed it gently, "You're incredibly stubborn to a fault you know that? But that is one of the reasons why I admire you so much—why I fell in love with you…" Axel chuckled.

"Oh really?" the blond smirked. He was interested to learn more and hoped his lover would continue.

"Yes, your personality speaks volumes in contrast to your beauty and you are also by far the only person who has ever left me speechless and wanting more of such a forbidden fruit as erratic as you." Axel replied, his face leaning in close until they were staring at each other with their foreheads pressed gently together, "You are outspoken and positively bold. You have left me breathless countless times already, literally and you have even humiliated me, yet I do not even raise my voice to stop you because I'm so impressed by you."

"What about Larxene? She humiliates you and you don't stop her."

Axel choked, his green eyes hardening a bit, "Can we please not talk about her? She is a different story, she's a lady and I as a gentleman cannot lay a finger on her. And on another note, she disgusts me!" He added with a frown.

"A gentleman? Okay, I'm sorry… but, you were saying?" Roxas laughed softly.

"I don't know now, you ruined the moment by bringing up that beastly woman into the conversation. I really don't think you deserve anymore details now." the redhead began to tease.

"Hey—no fair, you fox!" he quickly retorted, leaving Axel all but laughing loudly now.

"Well, I think it's a good thing the moment was ruined because though I hate to interrupt, I had another reason for why I came here." Nanaki said. Quickly the two princes took notice of him again and waited silently for the beast to continue speaking, "King Leon wishes to speak to you, Axel. I'm sure that Cloud wants to as well, but it will be at a later time since you and Roxas have already been through enough for today and he is certain Leon will give you more of an earful than he will."

"Is it just Axel he wants to talk to? May I join in as well?" Roxas asked suddenly, his voice shaking out of fear for what Leon might do to the older prince.

"I am afraid that it's just Prince Axel, but do not fret Roxas for I will be here to keep you company while you wait for your father and him to finish their discussion."

"But—he might—uh, there's no use trying to talk my way into going with Axel, is there?" the blond frowned.

Shaking his head sternly, Nanaki then head butted Axel's shoulder, "You two have delayed enough time as it is, I suspect King Leon may have lost his patience by now so get up already and go. He is in the library waiting for you."

Swallowing thickly, Axel gradually assembled the courage to climb off of the bed. Kissing the young prince tenderly, he brushed several strands of the boy's golden tresses, giving him the best assuring smile he could before finally leaving the room whilst trembling slightly out of apprehension for what was to come.

-x-x-x-x-

Axel arrived at the library in no time and yet he found each step he took to get there to be completely and utterly torturous. Now finding himself standing in front of the king's desk, the redhead feared for his life as the ruler looked up at him from his leather chair with deep, unpredictable dark blue eyes. Sweat was accumulating in the palms of his clenched hands and it didn't help when he saw Leon smirk—obviously amused by how a simple stare from him and just being in his very presence was enough to leave Radiant Garden's heir shaking like a helpless newborn fawn.

Standing up from his seat, Leon pushed the rather large chair back; its legs creating an uncomfortable wailing against the floor. Axel's trembling increased tenfold once Leon rounded the desk and stood but an arm's length away from him now, his arms crossed and brow arched at him curiously, if not annoyed at him.

"Do I really frighten you, Prince Axel?" he chuckled darkly.

"I-I have every right to be afraid of you." Axel managed to answer, "Your temper knows no bounds and I have seen what you've done to my friend, Riku. You are The Lion of Balamb, their king and every battle you have ever led over the years against those who have threatened your country and its people have fallen and are all but dust in the wind. You are one of the few people I do not wish to make an enemy out of."

"Flattering." Leon replied flatly and yawned, causing Axel to blink, "How about we cut the formalities for my sake. You trying to butter me up like this is revolting despite how true your words are."

"Uhh—sure?" Axel stared.

"Good, now let's get to the point already." The brunet added, his heavy boots stomping across the floor towards the couches by the fireplace, "Come and sit with me."

Nodding quickly, Axel followed swiftly to take a seat next to the king on the loveseat, afraid that if he were being too slow then Leon would be displeased with him.

"You should stop shaking, it's not like I'm going to kill you on the spot kid."

"Sorry, I'm just nervous about what you needed to talk to me about."

The king clicked his tongue, "Fine, just so you can stop trembling in fear, I wanted to discuss matters concerning the state of which your relationship with my son has progressed to."

"Yeah, I figured as much…"

"Good, because I'm not exactly happy that my son and you are following in our footsteps and by that I mean Cloud and I." Leon said with a grumble on his part.

"You? A-and his majesty King Cloud?" Axel gaped at the older male with disbelief.

"Yes, Cloud and I," He growled, "I hope you are well aware of how the story goes, about how Cloud and I got together."

"Sort of, I was about two or three years old back then when news of you two became the gossip of our kingdom. You two defied your respective courts by conceiving Sora and Roxas, from what I'm aware of."

"Mm, that wasn't a pretty mess to clean up but at least you get the just of it." Leon yawned, "I wanted to tell you that in our situation, I was stuck in the exact same predicament as you, with a fiancée and overbearing parents to boot. And Roxas, he's as every bit like Cloud in nearly every way. Aggressive attitude and all…" he added, his spine shivering at the countless memories of his blond haired lover physically abusing him throughout the years.

"You didn't want to marry the girl, did you?"

"No, who in their right mind would ever want to be forced into a marriage they don't even want and without their consent?"

"No one, your majesty." Axel smiled sadly into his lap.

"Cloud already told Roxas the story, which is how he thought it'd be a brilliant plan to try on you and seeing as how it worked..." Taking a deep breath, the older male combed his fingers through the fronts of his dark brown hair roughly with somewhat of an exasperated sigh, "I'm going to have to tell you my side of the story now."

Axel sat there, looking at the king with pure astonishment. Straightening up his posture now, he leaned in with interest, "Okay, go on now tell me." He urged.

Blinking, Leon cleared his throat, "Right, well I was just about your age when out of the blue I became engaged with a noble woman by the name of Rinoa Heartilly. I'll admit she had her perks but I had already been in love with Cloud for years so the very second she came into my life, I wanted her out." He smirked and quite proudly at that, "I did everything I could to break it off with her, I even went so far as to humiliate her on several occasions but she saw right through me and embarrassed me right back. Her father was the lead man who was pushing for us to be together and my mother was just as excited as ever to be able to plan her oldest son's wedding."

"Heh, just like me…"

"Yeah, every bit, so don't even think that you're the only one suffering kid." Leon scoffed, "I've already experienced it and now you will learn from me and what I did."

"Gotcha."

"Good. Now, Cloud told me you didn't plan on telling our son you had Larxene Morgan waiting for you at the alter after this summer, well my boy, you could have really saved some heartache over that by manning up and telling Roxas the first chance you got, but too late now."

"Please don't remind…" Axel groaned, bringing his hands to cradle his face.

"Heh, well unlike you, I had the guts to tell Cloud. I'll admit it was painful because he punched me pretty good in the face afterwards but it was better than having gone through what you did." Leon smirked again, adding a soft snicker just to put salt on the wound, "Anyways, my wedding day with Rinoa drew close after only several months. At one point I couldn't see Cloud for weeks and though I hate to tell you this, I actually went and locked myself up in my room for hours on end because of being unable to see him. Thank god Cloud finally made time and appeared in Balamb a month before the wedding day but he seemed off, different, you know? It wasn't until he suddenly pinned me down to my bed that I had begun to understand why he was being so moody, because right when he did that, he told me to make love to him and to give him children."

Leon smiled more or less to himself at the memory. After seventeen years, it was no longer awkward for him to recall it anymore, if anything he found it amusing and special now.

The redhead's green eyes widened as the memory of his and Roxas' first night together suddenly resurfaced, "What did you do after he told you that?"

The brunet shrugged, "We argued."

"But from the looks of it, Cloud won in the end, am I right?" Axel chuckled, which caused Leon to shoot him a glare.

"Of course, if he didn't I wouldn't be here and neither would my sons. You'd probably by hitched to that woman back home too!" He added, which caused Axel to glare right back at him, "I'm glad I gave in though, because Cloud saved me from having to lose him forever and our sons. I don't regret my decision."

"What exactly did you argue about?"

"I thought he was crazy, I mean it's possible because he is a member of the House of Strife but at the same time I had to question why," Leon said as his eye's bore right into the redhead. "His answer was because my parents wanted heirs and if he could give me one before Rinoa then he was sure the wedding would have to be called off. He was quite confident about his plan too since he is of royal blood unlike Rinoa, so giving my parents a prince or princess through the Nibelheim's royal line seemed better than giving the Heartilly's a chance to branch into the royal family."

"That's exactly what Roxas told me, sort of…"

"Really now? Cloud sure really influenced him I'd say… like father like son." Leon sighed contently.

"Yeah, they sure are alike in most ways."

"I bet he told you that the thought of having your heart isn't enough, right Axel?"

The prince of Radiant Garden just nodded his head. This Leon snorted at but he quickly composed himself in seconds afterwards.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that—it's just my son may as well be the exact copy of his father, Cloud," Leon commented, his right arm moving to the rest on his side of the loveseat, "Those two are such romantics despite how tough they appear. It really isn't a bad thing though because it makes their love for us that much more honest and true. They have no reason to hide it, which is why they are forceful, blunt and all around unpredictable sometimes."

"Man, I know exactly what you mean right there. If you recall, Roxas gave me the good old one, two during Sora and Riku's engagement party."

"Ha! So did Cloud!" Leon added with a short bark. He was still a little angry about that to be honest, the only reason why he hadn't said anything to his lover was because when it came down to an actual fight; Cloud could easily bring him down in terms of physical strength, "Why do you think Roxas was able to get away with it?"

"Will I'll be damned, Cloud has you wrapped around his finger."

"Pft, you're no better than me if Roxas can push you around so easily too."

"Touché, your majesty."

"Exactly."

"Leon, did you ever feel like Cloud was giving you too much?" Axel finally asked, his heart racing a bit as he waited for an answer.

"You mean in terms of our relationship?" Leon arched a brow before turning away to look down into his lap, "Like I told you before, Cloud saved me and for that I will always be faithful to him. Of course, there came a time when that thought did cross my mind and it happened on the day that Sora and Roxas were born."

"Tell me."

"I'm getting to that, jeez kid," Readjusting himself a little, the brunet bit his lip, "Until you have to experience those long hours of listening to your lover's painful screams while trying to give birth, you can only imagine it. I felt terrible for Cloud and I blamed myself for putting him through that situation because in order for us to be together he had to go through countless hours of agony. He sacrificed his body, his wellbeing for my sake and I knew in that instant that I had to repay him somehow. When I told Cloud afterwards when Sora and Roxas were finally born, the first thing he did was get up from his bed and slam me into the wall."

"That sure sounds like something he would do."

"Not very surprising, is it?"

"Unless I was the one being physically man handled, not really." Axel began to laugh. From what Leon could gather, the redhead was enjoying the parts of the story that mostly involved Cloud dominating him and physically abusing him; it made the brunet grumble but as long as it kept their conversation going, he didn't see any reason to start complaining yet.

"Well, as I was saying, Cloud gave me an earful about it after he had me up against the wall and cursed me for even thinking of such a ridiculous thing. He made his point pretty clear that he didn't want my pity for putting him through childbirth and the last thing he said to me was that the only thing he wanted was for us to be together and to raise our sons," Closing his eyes for a moment, Leon laid his head back on the loveseat, "Axel, don't take my son's love for you for granted. He's as every bit as pure about his feelings for you just as Cloud is for me. Treasure him, because you won't find another person in the world like him who is willing to love and care about you as much as he ever will."

Axel sat there, obviously speechless by the sudden change of emotion felt in the older male's words, "A-are you giving me you're blessing to be with Roxas?"

Snapping his head back up, Leon narrowed his dark stormy blue eyes at the prince, "What does it look like I'm trying to say to you? Do you honestly think I'm just going to let you off the hook and go back home to marry that drunk of a fiancée of yours that I've seen parading in my castle twice this summer?"

The redhead instantly shook his head no and Leon responded with a loud huff.

"Axel, unlike Riku, I kind of like you—kind of, but only because I see just a glimmer of myself in you," This was a great relief to Radiant Garden's prince but Leon continued to wear a serious face, "I will say this though, break your engagement off with Larxene because if you don't there will be hell to pay, especially if you put Roxas through any more emotional pain…" the brunet said slowly, emphasizing every word that left his mouth as he reached for the collar of Axel's shirt and yanked him forward.

"You don't have to tell me twice, sir…" Axel gulped nervously now, the king's eye's glaring menacingly at him, "Nanaki already gave me his threats, yours have served to guarantee that I will follow through with your wishes."

"That's good to know," Leon replied and he did not release the redhead from his clutches just yet, "I'll be discussing the matter of canceling your wedding with that beastly girl tomorrow. I'm quite sure your father and I _will_ be on the same page and I expect _you_ to be there as well."

"Yes, your majesty."

-x-x-x-x-

Radiant Garden's royal family stayed a week longer in Nibelheim. Though they were behind schedule, there was much to discuss for the future of both kingdoms now that Prince Roxas was bearing the next heir to the royal crown.

There wasn't much to be concerned about for Sora just yet and he was just as content to stay out of the spotlight now that both the royal courts were hot on his twin's heels for coming between the engagement of Axel and Larxene. But being of royal blood and the son of The Great Wolf of Nibelheim and The Lion of Balamb, there wasn't a thing any noble could do to try and rise up against such powerful figures that had the power of the people standing right behind them. In the end, Nibelheim's royal court gave Roxas their grudging excuse of a blessing and with that accomplished, this left the young prince and Axel with their last issue; having to deal with Radiant Garden and her pack of power hungry wolves.

Ansem the Wise wasn't at all looking forward to returning home now that they had such a difficult predicament to solve. He did agree though, that the planned marriage between his son and Vexen Morgan's daughter, Larxene had to be stopped at all costs.

To be it bluntly, Roxas' pregnancy was a sure sign that the alliance between their countries was guaranteed ten times over. With the union of Balamb and Nibelhiem years ago because of Cloud and Leon, they were a powerful ally and an even greater force to be reckoned with. This, Ansem was firm in his decision about because an heir conceived from the child of such prominent figures of power like Cloud and Leon was a valuable insurance to his nation. Though he knew it would most likely result in the loss of some allies in his court, it was much better in the long run as opposed to sitting on his throne in fear of outside invasions or threats. In order to help combat the political animals, Leon and a few others of his own court agreed to return with Ansem and it was then that the old man felt some of the load on his chest lighten, if only a little.

Roxas became adamant about going to Radiant Garden with Axel to deal with the engagement mess after the redhead was informed that his attendance was needed back home. Of course this didn't sit well with the older prince because he didn't want anything to happen during the blonde's early stages of pregnancy but his young lover was determined to go. With some persuasion on Nanaki's part, Axel eventually gave into his demands quietly but only on the terms that Nanaki himself be allowed to go and watch over Roxas as well.

Cloud decided to stay behind and defend the home front, along with Sora, Riku and Zack while a small handful of the royal guards which consisted of Yuffie, Seifer, Tifa and Vincent went with Leon, Roxas and Nanaki to Radiant Garden. This left Genesis, Angeal, Bartz and the new recruit, Lightning behind to protect the family but Leon trusted them and with Cloud assuring him the night before they all left, he felt content enough to leave without any more arguments on his part.

The nobles who agreed to accompany Leon were some of the king's closest friends and mentors, they were Quistis Trepe, Eraqus Dawn, Cid Highwind and of all people, his father the retired king of Balamb, Laguna. Roxas was extra excited about the trip since it meant he was able to spend some time with his grandfather but as a result, Laguna teasingly told both him and Axel to squeeze out as many great grandchildren out of the blond as they could.

By the time everyone found themselves in Radiant Garden, tensions were on the rise now but Leon's company of nine strong willed men and women easily stood their ground against the animals of Ansem the Wise's court.

Axel was completely taken aback by Nibelheim and Balamb's representatives but he could easily see where Roxas had learned to be so headstrong and brutally honest now that he saw these people in action. Even two of Leon's royal guard's had the guts to speak up to defend their king and prince, the ever aggressive, hotshot swordsmen, Seifer Almasy and the motherly yet headstrong fists of fury, Tifa Lockhart.

In less than a few days' time, Radiant Garden's court of ostentatious and arrogant nobles was easily beaten down in their places by Leon and his group. Though it meant the loss of some supporters on Ansem's part, there were other members like Merlin Marval, Riku's father Sephiroth Jenova, Luxord Stanley, Zexion Hail and Lazard Deusericus who saw this as an opportunity for long years of ensured alliance and power for Radiant Garden; just as Ansem had wanted.

Afterwards, their victory didn't matter anymore to Axel and Roxas because in the end they were finally able to be together without any more obstacles trying to get in the way of their relationship. In the short time Roxas spent with Axel in his home, he saw the older prince's city as a spurring metropolis in comparison to his mountainous haven in Nibelheim but he quickly learned that Radiant Garden wasn't what he wanted for their child to grow up into and Axel was swift to agree with him.

Only once did Roxas run into the likes of Larxene in the palace hallways and just because Axel wasn't with him at the time, she thought it'd be the perfect opportunity to attack the blond since he was now on her territory technically. But alas the situation did not go according to her plan because Tifa, having helped look after Roxas since he was in diapers charged into action and in seconds held the girl by her throat and floating off of the ground before slamming her back into the wall. With a smile, the brunet made her threat clear, twice over and added a powerful and frightening punch beside the Morgan woman's head against the wall as she dug her fist into the stone for an additional scare.

Larxene never dared to bother Roxas again after that incident which Tifa and him kept between themselves until questions began to arise about the large hole in the wall.

Eventually, Leon and his company's stay came to an end and they all returned home feeling accomplished and happy for the most part after being so victorious in their debates. With the engagement between him and Larxene annulled, there was nothing left for Axel in Radiant Garden other than his family and the prospect of becoming king in several years' time. With Roxas having to return home as well, Axel decided to go along with him to start a new life in Nibelheim and live there for a few years until it would be time for him to return and take the throne. There was no argument in that, thank goodness but Ansem was firm with his desires to be able to see his future grandchildren every now and again.

-x-x-x-x-

Summer came to its end and opened the doors for autumn, bringing in the fall harvests and annual festivals to Nibelheim with it. The celebrations were unlike any other Axel had ever seen before. Having been raised in the high society of Radiant Garden all of his life and away from the activities enjoyed mostly by the commoners, Axel was unsure about what to do and how to enjoy the merriment taking place. Luckily, Roxas and his family were there to guide Axel and so he excitedly joined in on all of the fun while dragging along an equally happy Roxas. Of course Leon was unhappy about all of the physical movement his youngest son was engaging in but Cloud reprimanded him by calling it a bout of light exercise.

Roxas' pregnancy eventually began to show and Axel doted on him to everyone he could at every chance he got much to the blonde's embarrassment. Only when the two of them were alone, did Roxas feel comfortable with letting Axel hold and touch his growing stomach. Between just the two of them, the moment seemed magical and they always tended to debate with each other on whether or not they would have a daughter or a son.

By the time October rolled around, Axel decided one morning in bed to present the blond with a silver ring that held a single diamond glittering at its center. It left Roxas speechless and during his moments of silence, Axel confessed his longing for them to be married and proposed to him informally on the spot. No one had expected this from the redhead so soon, not even Roxas but the blond didn't care because he kissed Axel hard on the lips as his answer and thus sealed the deal.

Following Axel's proposal to Roxas, it of course prompted Leon to step in and give the redhead another long chat which Riku snickered about behind his friend's back. The silver haired noble hoped that Axel would receive the same treatment Leon had given him months before but to his greatest shock the redhead returned unscathed with his usual attitude intact.

Sora was doing quite well for himself being on his sixth month but when Riku was called back to Radiant Garden after having stayed in Nibelheim for nearly five months already, he requested that the young brunet be allowed to travel home with him to meet his family. Of course, Leon was set against it entirely and was almost successful in having wrung the silverette's neck had it not been for Cloud and Zack holding him back. In the end though, with much persuasion on his blond lover's part, the king gave his reluctant consent to the couple but continued to worry about the safety of his unborn grandchild and the wellbeing of his son.

With one son already having gone and left the nest, the terror of the twin princes of Nibelheim had come to an end. Leon wouldn't admit it this to anyone except Cloud but he really did miss the noise and laughter because nowadays, it seemed far too quiet and peaceful around the castle for his liking. Cloud took pleasure in teasing Leon about this since the brunet was the discipliner between the two of them but unlike his lover, he was honest and on a few occasions he confessed to Axel of all people how much he missed seeing his boys run amuck like wild animals throughout their home.

When winter set in, it was colder than the snow falls and chills experienced in Radiant Garden. Axel was hardly an admirer for the current season but it gave him an even better excuse than before to cuddle Roxas whenever he wanted which included when they were even in the presence of his father in-laws to be. Leon wasn't particularly happy about witnessing his son's public displays of affection but Cloud countered it from time to time by silencing his lover's grumbles with a firm kiss or two.

By January, Sora still had yet to return home from Radiant Garden. It worried everyone in the castle since it was technically his ninth month of pregnancy and the family really wanted to be there to witness and support their young prince during his greatest time of need. When a letter finally arrived on the twenty-third with information pertaining to Sora, Leon and Cloud fled the castle in a spit of rage—leaving Quistis and Cid to help Roxas run the kingdom in their stead while they both traveled to Radiant Garden where apparently Sora had given birth to a son on the nineteenth and was currently sick in bed.

In less than a week, the kings returned, still feeling angry and spiteful but they managed to bring Sora and their new grandson, Hope back home to Nibelheim with them. According to the young prince, he had fallen ill two weeks before. He had wanted to travel home in time to give birth but didn't feel well enough, so it forced him to stay longer than he had originally planned. The birthing process came as a shock to him and he was honestly scared for his life but had it not been for Riku's mother, Aqua helping him throughout the whole ordeal he was sure he and his son wouldn't have been able to survive, which was why they had named him Hope.

Riku came back to Nibelheim shortly after Sora's arrival, begging for both king's forgiveness for not having informed them sooner. Cloud had scoffed at the time and gave him a mumble while Leon glared silently. Sora forgave him easily of course since he was distracted by how happy he was to finally be home. With Hope being raised in the castle now, everyone's attention instantly gravitated towards the newborn prince who had surprisingly inherited the Jenova's distinctive silver hair and aqua color eyes.

During the middle of February, Riku and Sora had a small wedding consisting only of their family and close friends. Throughout the entire ceremony, Sephorith insisted on being the one to hold his wiggling grandson, Hope and even after the vows and rings were exchanged he refused to relieve himself of the infant. No one was bothered by it of course except maybe Cloud but overall it made for a nice story or joke to tell since the Head of the Jenova's was quite well known for his cold demeanor. Just seeing the older man hogging the newborn and constantly cooing at him was a rather entertaining display, especially for Riku and his older brothers. Luckily, Sephorith didn't worry about all the laughter or jests pointed his way, instead he took the teasing from everyone with pride.

As for Axel and Roxas, they were well on their way to a healthy pregnancy and were expecting the birth of their child to be sometime in May. They decided to have their wedding day on the fourteenth of April, at least a month before the blonde was actually due. Sora continued to stay in Nibelheim taking care of Hope, stating that Radiant Garden was far from being the best place to raise a child with all of the hustle and bustle of the town and political animals lurking around. Roxas was ecstatic about this since he too was making the exact same decision. Being as close already as brothers could be, the twins agreed simultaneously that they would raise their children as closely together as possible, at least until Axel would have to return to Radiant Garden to claim the throne.

At long last the anticipated wedding day arrived for Axel and Roxas, Like Sora and Riku's wedding, they opt for a small ceremony themselves, inviting only those that truly mattered to them. Ansem and Kairi of course made the trip a week early and seeing how big Roxas had gotten, the princess couldn't resist gushing wildly over her excitement about being an aunt and sister in-law to the blond prince. Axel's friends from home, Demyx Cross and Zexion Hail made their appearance as well, happy that their dear friend had finally found a blissful chapter in his life that did not include Larxene.

That day, Axel felt weak at the knees as he watched his husband to be walk steadily down the aisle hand in hand with Cloud. The flaxen haired prince of Nibelheim had never looked even more beautiful than before and seeing him dressed in fine clothes of royal blues and grays, colors that represented his status as a royal and most of all, his stomach round with the redhead's child growing inside—Axel couldn't have pictured a perfect partner to love and rule with him for the rest of his life. It was truly a dream come true.

As Cloud handed his youngest son off to Axel, he eyed the redhead hard. Being a father and having to give up his child to someone else who vowed to take care of them and love them was one of the hardest things for him to do. It pulled at his heartstrings but this was all for his son's happiness. He had already watched Leon see their oldest son, Sora off and now it was Cloud's turn for Roxas.

Once Cloud departed and took his place off to the sidelines, the ceremony began. As opposite as the princes were sometimes, they were nonetheless drawn to each other instantly, from the very moment they had met. The natural instinct that was felt towards one another allowed for them to build a foundation in so little time until it finally blossomed into love despite the hardships that they were faced with. It was remarkable to say the least and though they followed steadily behind the footsteps of Cloud and Leon, everyone in the room was happy that they were at least able to achieve a new life together.

Exchanging their vows and 'I do's', the rings were happily presented to them by Pence. Slipping their rings on each other's left ring fingers; Axel could see tears of joy form in his husband's lovely blue eyes. Taking the blonde's face delicately into his hands, the redhead stared down at him, the look on his face filled with nothing but pure love and admiration for the beautiful prince before him as he leaned down, finally pressing their lips together and kissed him for everyone to see.

With the ceremony over and done with, next came the celebration of food and socializing with the guests. Roxas had to discard his purple cloak and unbutton the top of his shirt to give himself some room to breathe or else he was certain he might faint from the sudden rise of body heat he had accumulated throughout the day. Though he managed to stay relatively composed during the whole ordeal with his wedding, Roxas was a little worried about the constant kicking he had been experiencing from the baby for the last few days and throughout the amity of the ceremony.

Leaning over a little in his chair, Roxas stared down at his feet and took quite a few deep breaths to calm himself down. Beside him, Axel noticed the sudden change in his once calm demeanor immediately and placed a hand against the small of his back.

"Are you alright, love?"

"Y-yeah, I think so… it's just lately the baby has been kicking, more often than usual." Roxas confessed as he released a short wince.

"What? Is it constant?" Axel asked, growing more concerned now that he could see that the pain Roxas was feeling became even more evident in his face.

"Sort of, it's just really strange, I almost feel like it's not just one kick but two, maybe even three at the same time."

"During the wedding, was the baby kicking inside of you then too?" Axel asked him quickly now.

"A little but it was only minor then."

Giving the blond a serious look, Axel gripped him by the shoulders and gave them a slight squeeze, "How long have you been hiding this from me?"

"A-axel—"

"Roxas please tell me."

"I—it was just…" he sighed, "All week, I didn't want to say anything because we were already so close to the wedding date. I thought that it would subside a little if I just toughened it out..." Roxas replied before slowly looking away.

"Roxas, you should have told me..."

"I know and I'm sorry."

"I forgive you but—," Looking down at the child protruding from the blonde's stomach, Axel reached down to press his hand against his round belly. "Will you be alright?"

"I think so, or at least I hope so," Roxas said as he scooted closer to the redhead, winding his arms tightly around him.

"Mm." Laying his cheek a top the soft spikes of golden tresses, Axel caressed his husband's stomach.

The two continued to sit there together at their table, Axel holding Roxas closely to him as he made small talk every now and again. The blond was still suffering from the baby's kicking though and it grew even worse the longer he tried to hold out.

Seeing the distress warped into Roxas' face, Axel's worry intensified and he quickly called Cloud over once the blonde's breathing began to sound ragged and deep.

"Roxas? Roxas what's wrong?" Cloud questioned, his hand's cupping the prince's face.

"D-dad, it hurts inside—Ah!"

"Roxas!" Leon was running across the ballroom now, followed by Sora and Nanaki later.

With everyone crowded around the blond, Roxas was becoming claustrophobic and it didn't make the situation any better, if not worse. He clung desperately to Cloud now and in response his father lifted him up gently into his arms.

Cloud turned to his partner, his blue eyes darkening over, "Leon, I think we have a baby on the way."

"Are you serious?" the brunet's eyes slowly began to widen at the realization. Looking from his husband down to his son, Leon quickly nodded his head in understanding. "I'll deal with the guests, just take care of Roxas."

"You know I will." Cloud replied before bounding towards the exit of the ballroom.

"W-wait!" Axel shouted. Getting up from his chair, he ran after his husband and father in-law. "T-the baby? It's coming? Today!"

"You idiot! Does it look like my son will be able to enjoy the reception while feeling like his insides is being assaulted at this very moment? I'm pretty sure the baby is coming and from the looks of it, that baby wants out now!"

"I-I—uh… baby! Oh sons of Odin!" Axel exclaimed as he began gripping at the roots his red hair and hysterically releasing short gasps of shock.

"Axel just calm down already!" Roxas finally screamed as loudly as he could.

During the redhead's short moments of fear for Roxas, Cloud finally grew fed up and kicked his son in-law right from under his feet. Hitting the tile floor and landing flat on his back, Axel laid there feeling completely stunned. Without so much as another word, the blond haired king stomped his way out of the now quiet ballroom.

Once the king made his exit, all eyes rested on the redhead still lying pathetically on the floor. Embarrassing as it was, Axel's thoughts were completely flooded with worry for Roxas and their baby. Without even sparing a moment to explain himself, Axel was quick to jump to his feet and run after his beloved like his life depended on it.

-x-x-x-x-

Roxas was sprawled out on his bed, his face flushed and damp with sweat. Cloud and Aerith were in the bedroom pacing nervously, attending to the distressed prince as he gave out deep labored pants between sharp gasps and pained shouts. Outside in the hallway, Axel sat on the floor with his back pressed up against the wall. Cloud wouldn't allow the redhead in and when he did try to fight his way towards his husband, the blond haired king gave him a swift punch to the stomach which instantly knocked the wind right out of him. Too afraid to try and go up against Cloud again, Axel resorted to waiting pitifully outside of the room like a kicked puppy.

From where he sat, the sounds of Roxas' screams of discomfort made Axel's head throb with dizziness. It had been nearly two hours now since the blond admitted to feeling distraught with the baby kicking him on and off for the past week and the shock was still vibrant and tingling throughout Axel's entire body. To think that their baby wanted to come out and see the world so soon on the very day of their union of all times just took the icing right off of the cake. They weren't even expecting the delivery to occur this soon which was why they had decided upon having their marriage to be held a month early in the first place.

Another hour ticked away with nerve-wracking lethargy for everyone in the west wing. At this point, Axel could care less about the guests still mingling about in the castle now. His father and sister, his friends—none of that seemed to matter at all to him except waiting for Roxas' painful howling to stop.

Leon, Sora, Riku and Nanaki joined him in the hallway and all five of them winced each time they heard Roxas' hoarse voice from the bedroom. Cloud's soothing whispers could only do so much for his son and with each second that passed during the blond prince's wake, Axel wished time and time again for there to be a way for him to take away his husband's pain.

There was not a moment's peace for anyone. Eventually, Sora and Riku took their leave since they left Hope in the care of his grandfather Sephorith and the brunet's crying over his twin's brutal contractions won him over in the end. He did promise to be back as soon as he could of course and Nanaki in return gave his word to inform everyone incase anything happened. This left Axel, Leon and Nanaki alone in the hall now and all three felt apprehensive as Roxas' cries intensified with great volume.

"I'm scared, Leon." Axel finally confessed; his eyes locked solely on the door to the bedroom he shared with Roxas.

"Yeah? Well, so am I. I've only had to experience this once with Cloud and now that my son is going through the same pain, it frightens me too." The king replied.

"It doesn't get any easier the longer we wait, does it?"

"No, if anything the anticipation is maddening."

"How long did you have to wait the first time?"

"Nearly half a day." Leon answered.

"It's only been a couple of hours compared to what you went through…" Axel frowned.

"Doesn't matter, it still feels like an eternity to me." Leon sighed.

Nanaki didn't say anything. Releasing a short whine, the red haired beast nuzzled his face deep into Leon's side, seeking any form of comfort he could find. In response, the brunet stroked the fur on his head, giving Nanaki a simple scratch behind the ear as the voices in the room grew frantic now.

"You know Axel, I wanted to be there for Sora when he had Hope. I'm still angry at Riku for taking that chance away from me and now that I'm here waiting on Roxas, I want to thank you for allowing me to be here for the birth of my new grandchild." Leon said, his eyes looking distant but close enough for Axel to see the warmth that was held there and hidden deep within the stormy blue pools.

"Heh, you're welcome Leon." Axel replied with a soft chuckle, a short smile following afterwards.

The two's moment of shared tranquility was broken by a sharp, horrifying scream unlike any other heard before. It came as a complete shock to both men and Axel found himself jumping in place before instantly wrapping his arms around Leon's shoulders. The brunet's eyes were wide with terror but upon finding his son in-law latched tightly around him, Leon grumbled. Shoving the redhead aside, Nanaki's ears perked up and he was up on his feet in seconds.

The sound was faint at first but it was there and it continued to grow until Leon and Axel stood up from their place on the floor with gaping mouths. It was finally over, or so they thought but another soft cry from Roxas was heard, a second much louder shriek than before joining the first one.

"L-leon… I heard t-two babies; there are two of them… twins…" Axel spoke slowly, his feet dragging across the floor towards the bedroom.

"Well that would explain why he looked fatter than usual…"

Stocking right up after his son in-law, Leon gripped his shoulders from behind to steady the redhead's swaying body. He couldn't deny that he was nervous too but this was Axel's day and he had to make sure that the man could at least see his children before he would allow him to pass out from the shock of finally becoming a father.

"Hey kid, steady now—just take deep breaths. I know it's a shock, but you're right, there's no denying that you've got yourself some twins."

"Your highnesses, I'm going to go and inform everyone else now." Nanaki finally said, his fur standing up on ends now.

"Hurry up then." Leon replied, and just like that Nanaki bolted towards the end of the hallway.

Slowly the brunt haired king led his son in-law towards the door, the soft voices inside filled with excitement despite the tearful cries heard from the newborn babies now among them. Gripping the knob tightly, Leon twisted it and with some effort, managed to push the door open regardless of the fact that Axel was losing his ability to stand and was leaning more of his weight on him.

Growling under his breath, Leon hissed, "Alright, I've had enough." He finally said as he shoved Axel right into the room.

The redhead scrambled to keep his balance, walking clumsily across the room until he braced himself on the post at the end of the bed. Looking up at the blond, his green eyes widened instantly at the sight before him and he couldn't help but let his jaw drop from the bewilderment of seeing his husband flushed and sweaty yet smiling wearily at the tiny baby held closely to his chest. Turning to his father in-law, Cloud sat to Roxas' right, his lips curved into a beam as he held the other newborn in his arms.

Swallowing nervously, Axel managed to pick himself back up and approach Cloud silently. The blond king looked up at the redhead, his expression stone hard as he slowly lifted himself up off the bed while cradling his grandchild in his arms.

"Congratulations, you're now the father to twin boys." Cloud said with the softest of smiles.

Carefully handing the newborn off towards his father, Cloud relieved his seat to the redhead and upon seeing the grin adorned on his brunet lover's face his feet flew across the room only to bring the taller male down for a kiss.

Axel cuddled his newborn son delicately in his arms. The child wasn't crying anymore, thank goodness. Releasing soft murmurs, Axel watched the baby's nose twitch, his eyes darting to admire the pink tint to his son's impossibly soft skin and moving onto staring at the impressively light red fuzz of hair on his head. Sitting down on the bed beside Roxas as he held their second son, Axel smiled widely at him before leaning down to press his lips against the blonde's forehead.

"Look at us, we're parents now." Axel almost laughed.

Roxas nodded his head weakly and sighed heavily. Even though he was so tired, he couldn't bring himself to fall asleep just yet, "That one there in your arms, dad named him Lea. He's the oldest."

"Then this one here that you're holding, he's the youngest?"

"By a few seconds yes, what should we name him?"

"Well…" Looking down at the baby held in the blonde's arms, Axel reached down tentatively to brush his thumb against the faint marks presented on the newborn's cheekbones. "Hm… Reno? How about Reno?"

"Reno? Re-no…" Roxas tested the name on his tongue several more times after before giving Axel a satisfied nod of approval, "I think it's perfect for him."

"Really? So do I," Axel replied.

"Lea and Reno."

"Seeing all this red haired peach fuzz on their heads, I'm pretty sure they'll grow up to look just like me."

"If only cuter because of Roxas," Leon commented as he finally advanced towards the two.

"Where are my nieces or nephews?" Kairi finally said as she ran into the room, followed closely behind by Ansem, Nanaki, Sora and Riku.

"Nephews Kairi and please be quiet," Axel glared. Looking down at Lea, he slowly began to rock the newborn in his arms once the child's face contorted with discomfort from the sudden noise.

"Riku, nephews—I have nephews, I'm an uncle now," Sora whispered excitedly before getting up onto the bed to cuddle against Roxas on his left.

"Wow, would you look at that? Twins, I guess with all the action Roxas and Axel were getting into it was to be expected." Riku chuckled.

"As long as they're not complete monstrosity's like _some_ twin's that I know of," Leon said pointedly at Sora and Roxas. "I think I can live with one more pair of identical boys in my life time."

Everyone laughed at this, the humor too good to pass up. Everyone in the room got a chance to coo and awe at the newborn princes. Nanaki in particular was curious about them and though he was surprised by them inheriting Axel's bright red hair, Roxas could tell immediately that his companion would care for them just as he cared for Sora and him despite the fact that Axel tended to rub him the wrong way.

The three grandfathers were all given the privilege of holding their grandson's which Kairi thought was unfair and resented it. Reno was the first to open his eyes when Leon rocked him back and forth and it surprised the king to no end. Everyone was sure that the twins would take after Axel in terms of every physical feature, but the youngest newborn did not have the distinctive emerald green eyes possessed by his father like everyone thought. Instead, he carried an odd fusion of sky blue and baby green grass—something akin only to those within the House of Strife which Cloud grew quite complacently about.

Eventually, fussing from Lea resulted in Reno crumbling to tears and the parents scrambled to bring peace and order back into the bedroom. With a stern glare from Cloud, everyone vacated the room, finally leaving the new father's with enough amity and silence to enjoy reclining in each other's wake.

Roxas at long last fell asleep with an equally tired Reno in his arms along with a mentally exhausted Axel beside him in bed whilst the redhead was cradling Lea against his chest. After an hour, Cloud and Leon snuck back into the room, pushing in the crib they used when Sora and Roxas were infants themselves. Carefully, they collected the newborns from their fatigued fathers and placed them both together in their new bed. Satisfied, the two kings made their exit—leaving the new family to continue resting.

-x-x-x-x-

**Six Years Later… **

"Ahh! Dog pile!"

"Oomph!"

"Wha-what the hell?"

"Lea! Reno!"

The two redheads laughed heartedly as they fell into the laps of Leon and Cloud. Both kings glared at their grandson's but eventually their frowns were turned and they smiled down at the two misfits of their castle.

"Good morning grandpa," Lea giggled.

"Morning, you little monsters." The brunet yawned.

"Grandpa Cloud! Wake up, rub the sleep from your eyes!" Reno bounced elatedly in blonde's lap.

Holding the younger boy by the waist, the blond sighed, "Calm down, I'm up, I'm up."

"Twins, the little devils…"

"You will never escape them Leon…"

"Whatever you say dear... So, why are you two here bugging us in the morning when you should be jumping on your father, Axel." Leon grumbled.

"Because! We can't jump on father and dad's bed! Dad's—"

"Pregnant again, remember?"

"Exactly! We don't want to hurt our new baby brother or sister!"

The twins pouted at them. Sighing heavily, Leon threw the blankets off before getting up and hauling both boys onto his shoulders as he began spinning them around.

"Hahaha—"

"Leon, be careful!" Cloud added.

"Throw us! Throw us!" Lea cried.

"Throw you? Well, if you insist." Leon shrugged with a smirk.

One then two he tossed the redheads back onto the bed with Cloud. Though the blond was glaring up at his lover, he instantly collected the giggling duo into his arms and cradled them close.

"Grandpa Cloud…" Reno whined.

"No, I'm not letting you guys go, you're mine now." Cloud murmured as he ruffled his youngest grandson's red hair.

Standing at the doorway with his arms crossed, Roxas was seen smiling at the four in the room. "So this is where you two ran off to, huh?"

"Daddy!" the twin's cried in unison before scrambling out from Cloud's grasp and running towards the younger blond. Hugging the man around his legs, they looked up at him with sparkling eyes.

"So loud in the morning…" Axel yawned as he leaned against the door with an arm slung around his husband's shoulder.

"After raising our boys for seventeen long painstaking years, you get used to it."

"Yeah? Huh, I guess so."

"Well, since we're all up now, how about some breakfast then?" Axel asked simply. Kneeling before the two boys he gave them a toothy smile.

"And then after breakfast we're leaving, aren't we?" Lea frowned.

Staring down at his oldest son, Axel's eyes softened some, "It's just for a little while, come on grandpa Ansem hasn't seen you two since your sixth birthday in April remember? And besides, its summer, we'll be back in Nibelheim before you know it."

"Hope is visiting his grandpa in Radiant Garden too, so that means we'll get to see him right?" Reno added.

"Of course you will see him." Roxas smiled, "I want to visit your uncle Sora anyways so there's no doubt in my mind that you'll be able to see Hope as well."

"But daddy you're like—" counting down on his fingers, Lea bit his lip, "Four or five months pregnant! Traveling will be hard on you, so we can't go!"

Lifting Lea up into his arms, Roxas smile wavered silghtly. Following Roxas' example, Axel easily picked Reno up off the ground as well and tapped his nose.

"You guys, you've been to Radiant Garden dozens of times before, why don't you want to go now?"

"Because we're afraid this time we won't be coming back." Lea said, his eyes casting down.

"Now who told you that?"

"Well…" Lea trailed off.

"Lea?" Leon called from his side of the room as he arched a brow.

"Okay! Reno and I overheard father, grandpa Leon and grandpa Ansem talking…" the older twin admitted.

"Something about a coronation in Radiant Garden by the end of the summer…" Reno added.

"And we're not clueless, we know what it means!"

"Clever…" Axel frowned.

"Alright, that's enough. It's too early in the morning to discuss this," Cloud finally said. Walking up to his son in-law, Reno motioned towards his grandfather and the blond simply lifted him up from the redhead's arms only to carry the young lad himself.

"Now no more, if you don't mind I'd like for us all to enjoy some breakfast together."

"Yes sir," Reno said.

Just as Cloud wanted, the family of six sat together in the dining hall. On occasion the twins could be found throwing tidbits at each other from their plate which Leon scolded them for. Nanaki, being the two youngster's companion, sat lazily beneath Reno's chair. While no one was looking, Reno snuck pieces of sausage and eggs to the beast. Nanaki didn't mind it at all for the free handouts and took what he was given with gratitude.

After their morning meal, the twins were ushered to take a bath and ready themselves for the long journey ahead. Leon and Cloud took the liberty of putting the boys into the tub despite Roxas' protest but he gave in at Axel's insistence since there was still more clothes to be packed away and prying the boys from their grandfathers would only break their hearts.

Hours later, the trunks were packed into the carriages, the escorts were assembled with their horses and the family all stood together in preparation to give their farewell. The twins were sniffling and it torn at everyone's hearts to see them so dejected.

"We'll see you again soon by summer's end, don't you worry," Leon said as he kneeled in front of the two boys.

"Promise?" Lea asked.

"We promise, don't worry," Cloud added. Kneeling next to his brunet haired partner, he kissed both boys on the forehead, "We'll even be at the coronation and once it's over then you can come home with us."

"Can we dad?" Reno turned to look up at the blond.

Smiling down at the boys with warm blue eyes, Roxas nodded, "Of course you can."

The twins beamed, quickly hugging their grandfather's tightly, they then turned their heels to pile themselves inside the carriage.

"Hurry up now! The faster we go, the faster time will fly!" Lea shouted.

"And before you know it we'll be back home in Nibelheim!" Reno added excitedly which earned a few chuckles from the men.

"Goodness you two!" Axel laughed.

Exchanging brief hugs with his father in-laws, the redhead climbed up onto his horse Ember, leaving Roxas behind to embrace his fathers a little longer whilst giving them promises to be back home in time before the birth of their third child.

Just like that, the four monarchs and their escort of royal guards, including Nanaki traveled off the premises of the castle grounds, leaving the two kings behind to watch as their family disappeared from sight.

"We'll see them again soon Leon, so don't worry." Cloud said as he cupped the emotionless face of his lover.

Staring at each other for a few seconds longer, Leon wrapped his arms tightly around the blonde's waist before bringing their lips together.

Once Lea and Reno could no longer see their beloved grandfathers from the side window, the two slumped into their seats and cuddled closely against Roxas. Winding his arms around the two boys, he felt Reno's hand move to touch the slight bump of his stomach.

"Dad, will you really be okay to travel?"

"I'm quite sure I'll be alright, I traveled to Radiant Garden even when I was pregnant with you two."

"Really?" Lea perked up, "Whatever for?"

"It's a long story." Roxas replied sheepishly.

"Long? Well if that's the case, then tell us!" Reno beamed.

"Yes, please? I don't want to be bored in here all day!" Lea pouted.

Arching his brow, Roxas laughed softly, "Alright, since you two are so eager to hear it then I guess I can tell you the story."

"Sweet!" the twins cried.

"Now, where do I start? Oh, I got it! Before you two were born there were two princes, one from Balamb and one from Nibelheim." Roxas began.

From there the story was told, going far back before Roxas' time, to its origins where it all began with the present kings, the twin's grandfathers, Leon and Cloud.

* * *

**A/N: **Oh my gosh, I'm done! This was the hardest chapter for me to write. I thought that because I began this story with Leon and Cloud, it was only right to intertwine them into the ending somehow as well. I honestly don't even know if I'm completely satisfied with the way I ended it since I feel like the conclusion was weak somewhere, but I'll just leave that up to all of you great readers out there to ponder on it.

Please tell me your thoughts, any questions or concerns, that'd be great and I'll be happy to answer them.

Just, thank you so much for reading this story in the first place you guys. For all of your constructive reviews, alerts, favs and so on and so forth, thank you.

Phew! Now that I have this short chapter fic done, I'm going to move onto another akuroku fic while I still have the time (: bye, bye for now ^-^


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